Major Shift in Mail Service: Canada Post Ends Residential Delivery for Thousands
Canada Post is moving ahead with plans to end home delivery and will begin converting 136,000 homes across the country to community mailboxes later this year, including 18,000 addresses in Etobicoke.
The announcement Thursday was met with anger from the union representing postal workers, concern from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, and mixed emotions from local residents.
In a press release, the Crown corporation also said it would begin “market reviews” of post offices across the country, as it considers which locations to close.
The Etobicoke addresses being converted are in the areas with postal codes beginning with M9V and M9W.
“The Corporation has reached a turning point and is taking action to ensure it can meet the evolving needs of Canadians in a financially sustainable way,” Canada Post said in its press release.
The announcement comes just days before 56,000 postal workers begin voting on a tentative contract agreement with Canada Post. Voting by members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) begins April 20 and ends May 30.
A spokesperson for Olivia Chow said the Toronto Mayor was dead-set against the conversion to community mailboxes, and said she still hasn’t been consulted on locations.
“Toronto has an aging population, and for many, transitioning to community mailboxes is difficult,” said Chow spokesperson Braman Thillainathan, noting that when the mayor was a Member of Parliament, “she made it clear that door-to-door mail delivery should be protected.”
“There has not yet been any consultation or clear plan for where these community mailboxes will be placed. We have not been informed or engaged on the potential impacts this could have.”
In a written statement, CUPW blasted Canada Post’s announcement.
“Canada Post calls this decision modernization. We fail to see how cutting services will help the Corporation compete against private couriers who deliver to the door,” the union said.
In a bulletin to members, CUPW vice president Rona Eckert estimated that 30 to 35 per cent of jobs at the depot serving the Etobicoke addresses would be lost, and also said the anticipated “date of implementation” for the Etobicoke conversion is Nov. 16 this year.
There was no immediate reply to several requests for comment from Ward 1 city councillor Vince Crisanti, who represents most of the affected addresses.
The affected area is in the Etobicoke North riding of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, though Ford himself doesn’t live at one of the affected addresses. The premier’s office didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Local resident Steve Azzopardi said he’ll miss his letter carrier when home delivery ends.
“I don’t know her by name, but she’s very nice,” said Azzopardi. “I’ll miss her … The main thing is, I just want her to be employed, because she has to feed her family as well.”
Audrey Armstrong, 28, who also lives in the same Rexdale–Kipling neighbourhood, said the switch to a community mailbox will make her life a lot less convenient. While she understands why the Crown corporation is ending home delivery, she’s concerned about the impact on residents who can’t leave their homes.
Tunde Miko said the end of home delivery is not going to impact her life much, given that she gets most of her bills and documents online.
“I think most people our age and younger, they get their stuff in through computer and email,” said the 58-year-old Miko.
The Crown Corporation said it will “engage with communities” while it finds “suitable” locations for the community mailboxes, and will still provide home-delivery service for people who need it, including seniors or people with mobility issues. The delivery accommodation program will require “supporting documentation” as part of any application.
More than three quarters of Canadians already get their mail delivered to community mailboxes. Canada Post said it expects to convert the remaining four million homes getting home delivery within five years.
The Crown corporation says it is reaching out to 13 communities across the country as it begins conversion.
It’s no coincidence that the affected addresses are spread out across the country, argued York University labour studies professor Steven Tufts.
“It’s a politically-constructed list,” said Tufts, who disputed the idea that Canada Post needs a “market survey” to figure out which post offices it wants to close.
“You don’t have a spreadsheet somewhere? Come on,” said Tufts. “I have a hard time believing that they wouldn’t have had a list already made with Xs on it.”
The Crown corporation is expected to announce later this month that it suffered its eighth straight annual loss in 2025; officials said in December it was on pace to break last year’s record annual loss of $1.3 billion.
In late September, the federal government gave the green light for a broad restructuring of Canada Post, including elimination of home delivery, increased use of community mailboxes and shuttering of some rural post offices.
Joël Lightbound, federal minister of Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement, said Thursday the restructuring is necessary because of “unsustainable” losses.
“Repeated bailouts by the federal government are not a long-term solution for Canada Post. It needs to transform,” said Lightbound, who noted that the Crown corporation has racked up over $5 billion in losses over the last few years.
Many of the changes approved by the minister were recommended in a May 2025 report by the Industrial Inquiry Commission led by veteran mediator William Kaplan.
Within hours of Lightbound’s September announcement, CUPW launched its second national strike in a year.
Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger said in December that the Crown corporation is expecting 16,000 employees to retire or take voluntary departure by 2030, with another 14,000 leaving by 2035.
This article was first reported by The Star
