Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as
Canada Post , is the
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
crown corporationCanadian Crown corporations are enterprises owned by the federal government of Canada , one of Canada's provincial governments or one of the territorial governments. Crown corporations have a long standing presence in the country and have been instrumental in the formation of the state...
which functions as the country's primary postal operator. The
Post Office Department of the
Government of CanadaThe Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
was founded in 1867 and was rebranded
Canada Post in the late 1960s though it officially remained the Post Office Department until October 16, 1981, when the Canada Post Corporation Act came into force. The act purported to set a new direction for the postal service, aiming to create a more reliable service and to ensure the postal service's financial security and independence.
Every business day, Canada Post provides service to 14.8 million addresses, delivering 45 million items. Delivery takes place via traditional "to the door" service by 15,000 letter carriers, supplemented by a 7,000 vehicle fleet in rural and suburban areas, and
truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
delivery of parcels. There are 6,500 post offices across the country, a combination of corporate offices and delearships that are operated by private retailers in conjunction with a host retail business, such as a drugstore. In terms of area serviced, Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation, including
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(where service in
SiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
is limited largely to communities along the railway). As of 2004, nearly 843,000 rural Canadian customers received residential mail delivery services.
On a consolidated basis, the Corporation processed 10.8 billion pieces during year 2009. Consolidated revenue from operations reached $7.3 billion and consolidated net income totaled $281 million. To compete effectively, Canada Post operates as a group of companies called The Canada Post Group. It employs 71,000 full and part-time employees to deliver a full range of delivery, logistics and fulfillment services to customers. The Corporation holds an interest in
Purolator CourierPurolator Courier Ltd. is a Canadian courier that is 91% owned by Canada Post Corporation, 7% owned by Barry Lapointe Holdings Ltd. and 2% by others....
,
InnovapostInnovapost is a Canadian-based information technology and business solutions company. Founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Canada Post and CGI Group...
, Progistix-Solutions and Canada Post International Limited. In 2000, Canada Post created a company called Epost, allowed customers to receive their bill online for free (in 2007, Epost was absorbed into Canada Post).
Canada Post (French: Postes Canada) is the
Federal Identity ProgramThe Federal Identity Program is the Canadian government's corporate identity program. The purpose of the FIP is to clearly identify each program and service of the government or the government of Canada in general. Managed by the Treasury Board Secretariat, this program, and the government's...
name. The legal name is
Canada Post Corporation in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and
Société canadienne des postes in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. During the late 1980s and much of the 1990s, the short forms used in the corporation's logo were "Mail" (English) and "Poste" (French), rendered as "Mail Poste" in English Canada, and "Poste Mail" in Quebec, although English-language advertising also still referred to the corporation as "Canada Post".
History
Mail delivery first started in Canada in 1693 when the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
born
Pedro da SilvaFor the Brazilian decathlete with the same name see Pedro da Silva Pedro da Silva was the first post courier in New France, in what was to become part of Canada...
was paid to deliver mail between
Quebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Official postal services began in 1775, under the control of the British Government up to 1851. The first postage stamp (designed by Sir
Sandford FlemingSir Sandford Fleming, was a Scottish-born Canadian engineer and inventor, proposed worldwide standard time zones, designed Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding...
) went into circulation in Canada that same year. It was not until 1867 when the newly formed Dominion of Canada created the
Post Office Department as a federal government department (The
Act for the Regulation of the Postal Service) headed by a Cabinet minister, the
Postmaster General of CanadaThe Postmaster General of Canada was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for the Post Office Department . In 1851, management of the post office was transferred from Britain to the provincial governments of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward...
. The Act took effect April 1, 1868, providing uniform postal service throughout the newly established country. The Canadian post office was designed around the British service as created by Sir
Rowland HillSir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...
, who introduced the concept of charging mail by weight and not destination along with creating the concept of the
postage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
.
Prior to rural mail delivery, many Canadians living outside major cities and towns had little communication with the outside world. On 10 October 1908, the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada. The extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural Canadian residents was a major achievement for the Post Office Department.
The Post Office Department was an early pioneer of
airmailAirmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
delivery, with the first airmail flight taking place on June 24, 1918, carrying mail from Montreal to Toronto. Regular airmail service began in 1928.
The 1970s was a tough decade for the Post Office, with major strikes combined with annual deficits that had hit $600 million by 1981. This state of affairs made politicians want to rethink their strategy for the federal department. It resulted in two years of public debate and input into the future of mail delivery in Canada. The government sought to give the post office more autonomy, in order to make it more commercially viable and to compete against the new threat of private courier services. On October 16, 1981, the Federal Parliament passed the "Canada Post Corporation Act"
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-10/text.html, which transformed Canada Post into a Crown corporation to create the
Canada Post Corporation (CPC). The legislation also includes a measure that legally guarantees basic postal service to all Canadians. It stipulates that all Canadians have the right to expect mail delivery, regardless of where they live.
Several historical sites related to the history of the Post Office Department of Canada can be visited today. In
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the
first Toronto Post OfficeToronto's First Post Office is the oldest purpose-built post office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the only surviving example of a post office that functioned as a department of the British Royal Mail....
is still in operation. The site of the
Air Canada CentreThe Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....
was once the Canada Post Delivery Building. Also notable are the
Vancouver Main Post Office and the
Dawson, Yukon, Post Office, a National Historic Site of Canada. In Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, a
nineteenth-century lighthouse acts as a seasonal post office for the tiny coastal community.
Timeline
| Year |
Description |
| 1693 |
First paid mail delivery within Canada |
| 1775 |
British Government begins offering mail service in Canada |
| 1851 |
British provincial governments in Canada take control of mail delivery |
| 1867 |
Following Confederation, Canada Post is created as a federal department |
| 1878 |
Canada Post joins Universal Postal UnionThe Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
|
| 1957 |
Dr. Maurice Levy invents the automatical postal sorter, which could handle 200,000 letters per hour. |
| 1971 |
Initial implementation of the postal codeA Canadian postal code is a six-character string that forms part of a postal address in Canada. Like British and Dutch postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. They are in the format A0A 0A0, where A is a letter and 0 is a digit, with a space separating the third and fourth characters...
|
| 1981 |
Canada Post Corporation Act is passed by Parliament |
| 1981 |
Canada Post is turned into a Crown Corporation |
| 1993 |
Canada Post purchases a majority stake in Purolator CourierPurolator Courier Ltd. is a Canadian courier that is 91% owned by Canada Post Corporation, 7% owned by Barry Lapointe Holdings Ltd. and 2% by others....
|
| 2006 |
Introduction of the Permanent StampNon-denominated postage is postage intended to meet a certain postage rate that retains full validity for that intended postage rate even after the rate is increased. It does not show a monetary value, or denomination, on the face. In many English speaking countries, it is called non-value...
, a stamp that is always worth the basic domestic mailing rate. Canada Post announces plans to review whether or not to continue rural individual mail delivery services to 843,000 Canadian customers. |
Ombudsman
The
Office of the Ombudsman at Canada Post was created in October 1997 as a result of the 1995
Canada Post Mandate Review conducted by an Advisory Panel appointed by the Canadian government.
The
OmbudsmanAn ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
is the final appeal authority in resolving postal service complaints. If a complaint is not resolved to the customer’s satisfaction by Canada Post, the customer can appeal to the Ombudsman. Although the Ombudsman has no legislative power over the Corporation, the recommendations that the office makes to Canada Post can help improve company processes, amend policies and reinforce compliance with procedures.
The Ombudsman is independent of Canada Post staff and management, reporting directly to the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mrs. Francine Conn was appointed on July 11, 2011, as the fourth and current Ombudsman at Canada Post. The services offered by the Office of the Ombudsman are free of charge.
Mail format
Any letter sent within Canada has the destination
addressAn address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...
on the centre of its envelope, with a
stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
, postal indicia, meter label, or
frankFranking are any and all devices or markings such as postage stamps , printed or stamped impressions, codings, labels, manuscript writings , and/or any other authorized form of markings affixed or applied to mails to qualify them to be postally serviced.-Franking types and...
mark on the top-right corner of the envelope to acknowledge payment of postage. A
return addressIn postal mail, a return address is an explicit inclusion of the address of the person sending the message. It provides the recipient with a means to determine how to respond to the sender of the message if needed....
, although it is not required, can be put on the top-left corner or the back of the envelope in smaller type than the destination address.
Official addressing protocol is for the address to be in
block lettersBlock letters are a form of writing in which the letters are upright, separated, and usually made without serifs. In English-speaking countries children are first taught to write in block letters , and later may advance to cursive writing...
, using a fixed-pitch
typefaceIn typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
(such as
CourierCourier is a monospaced slab serif typeface designed to resemble the output from a strike-on typewriter. The typeface was designed by Howard "Bud" Kettler in 1955...
). The first line(s) of the address contain(s) the personal name and internal address of the recipient. The second-to-last line is the post office box, general delivery indicator, or street address, using the shortened name of the street type and no punctuation. The last line consists of the legal place name, a single space, the two-letter province abbreviation, two full spaces, and then the
postal codeA Canadian postal code is a six-character string that forms part of a postal address in Canada. Like British and Dutch postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. They are in the format A0A 0A0, where A is a letter and 0 is a digit, with a space separating the third and fourth characters...
. The country designation is unnecessary if mailed within
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Fictitious examples:
JOHN JONES
DÉPT MARKETING
10-321½ RUE CHARLES OUEST
MONTRÉAL QC H3Z 2Y7
|
JOHN JONES
1234 FRANKLIN AVE
PO BOX 4001 STN A
YELLOWKNIFE NT X1A 2B5 |
JOHN JONES
1234 7TH CONCESSION
SITE 6 COMP 10
RR 8 STN MAIN
MILLARVILLE AB T0L 1K0 |
JOHN JONES
GD STN MAIN
WALKERTON ON N0G 2V0 |
Major products and services
The Corporation has a directory of all its products and services called the
Postal Guide and has divided its range of services into three main categories: Transaction Mail, Parcels and Direct Marketing.
Transaction mail
The
lettermail service allows the transmission of virtually any paper document. The basic rate is currently set at 59 cents for one standard letter (30g or less), $1.03 for letters between 30g & 50g, and is regulated by a price-cap formula, linked to the inflation rate. The Corporation now has a “permanent” stamp that is valued at the domestic rate forever, eliminating the need to buy 1 cent stamps after a rate increase. The rates for lettermail are based on weight and size and determine whether the article falls into the aforementioned standard format, or in the oversize one.
The rates for services have generally been increasing above the rate of inflation. An exception is the rate for basic domestic letters for which Canada Post maintains that Canada has one of the lowest rates in the world because government regulation caps increases for this at below inflation.
Mail sent internationally is known as
letterpost. It can only contain paper documents (See Light Packet and Small Packet below). The rate for a standard letter is $1.03 if sent to the United States and $1.75 if sent to any other destination.
Domestic
Canada Post offers four domestic parcel services. The rates are based on distance, weight and size. The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg.
Four domestic parcel services
| Name |
Annotations |
| Regular Parcel |
Delivery time ranges from 2 to 9 days depending on the destination. |
| Expedited Parcel |
Available only to business customers. |
| Delivery time ranges from 1 to 7 days depending on the destination. |
| Xpresspost |
Is a service for parcels and documents. |
| Delivery time ranges from 1 to 2 days between major centres. |
| Priority: Next A.M. |
Is a service for parcels and documents. |
| Provides next day service between major centres. |
Light Packet
- Compensates for the fact that goods are prohibited in the letterpost(regular mail) service.
- Maximum weight is 500 g. Maximum dimensions are 380 mm × 270 mm × 20 mm.
- Rates based on weight and destination (USA or international).
Small Packet
- Air and surface services are available.
- Maximum weight is 1 kg (USA) and 2 kg (International).
Expedited Parcel USA
- Available for items sent to American addresses only.
- Despite its name, does not provide any service guarantee.
- The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg.
- It is cheaper than the standard international rate.
- Handed off to the USPS as Priority Mail.
Xpresspost-USA and International
- Provides speedy and guaranteed delivery to addresses in the United States.
- Provides accelerated delivery to certain countries.
- Maximum weight is 30 kg (USA) and 20 to 30 kg (depending on the international destination).
- Handed off to the USPS / other postal administrations as Express Mail / EMS.
International Parcel
- Air and surface service available.
- Provides delivery to countries to which Xpresspost is not available.
Priority Worldwide
- Partnered with FedEx
FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...
.
- Delivers overnight to the US and to more than 220 countries in 2-3 business days with detailed tracking.
Addressed Admail
- Promotional mailings targeted to specific residents.
- Minimum quantity of 1,000 articles.
Unaddressed Admail
- Consists of printed matter and product samples that are not addressed to specific delivery addresses in Canada, but to specific neighbourhoods or cities.
Barcodes
- Canada Post uses a 13 character barcode for their pre-printed labels. Bar codes consist of two letters, followed by eight sequence digits, and a ninth digit which is the check digit. The last two characters are the letters CA. The check digit seems to ignore the letters and only concern itself with the first 8 numeric digits. The scheme is to multiply each of those 8 digits by a different weighting factor, (8 6 4 2 3 5 9 7). Add up the total of all of these multiplications and divide by 11. The remainder after dividing by 11 gives a number from 0 to 10. Subtracting this from 11 gives a number from 1 to 11. That result is the check digit, except in the two cases where it is 10 or 11. If 10 it is then changed to a 0, and if 11 then it is changed to a 5. The check digit may be used to verify if a barcode scan is correct, or if a manual entry of the barcode is correct.
Canada Post Store
Canada post operates a store front that sells a variety of stamps, and postal supplies to the public. The personal shop is focused on nominal postage, shipping supplies, and prepaid envelopes while the collectors shop has a selection of limited edition definitive and commemorative stamps as well as coins.
Comparison Shopping
On Oct 26th 2010, Canada Post launched a comparison shopping service for Canadians. This service, Canada Post Comparison Shopper, allows shoppers to find and compare product available to Canadians from over 500 stores across the USA and Canada. Notable features include price comparison, store policy information, cross-border shipping, duties and fees estimation, price history charts, reviews and color search ability.
Philately
Although Canada Post is responsible for stamp design and production, the corporation does not actually choose the subjects or the final designs that appear on stamps. That task falls under the jurisdiction of the Stamp Advisory Committee. Their objective is to recommend a stamp program that will have broad-based appeal, regionally and culturally, reflecting Canadian history, heritage, and tradition.
Before Canada Post calls a meeting of the committee, it also welcomes suggestions for stamp subjects from Canadian citizens. Ideas for subjects that have recently appeared on a stamp are declined. The committee works two years in advance and can approve approximately 20 subjects for each year.
Once a stamp subject is selected, Canada Post’s Stamp Products group conducts research. Designs are commissioned from two firms, both chosen for their expertise. The designs are presented anonymously to the committee. The committee’s process and selection policy have changed little in the thirty years since it was introduced.
Noted stamps
- Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamp (Canada)
The Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamp is a domestic rate stamp issued by Canada Post, and bearing the image of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Six versions of the stamp have been issued since 2003....
- Acadian Deportation, Polio Vaccination
- Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer
Labour relations
Canada Post has a history of troubled labour relations with its
trade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, particularly the
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)The Canadian Union of Postal Workers or CUPW is a public sector trade union representing postal workers employed at Canada Post as well as private sector workers outside Canada Post.-Activities:...
and the Letter Carriers Union of Canada (which merged with CUPW in 1989) culminating in periodic
strike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
which has brought mail service in Canada to a halt. There have been at least 19 strikes, lockouts and walkouts between 1965 and 1997 including several wildcat strikes. A number of these strikes have seen the corporation employ
strikebreakerA strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
s and most, since the 1970s, have resulted in back-to-work legislation being passed by the Canadian parliament.
Canada Post was also the setting for one of the most controversial labour rulings of recent years. After several prosecutions for theft at its
Mississauga'sMississauga is a city in Southern Ontario located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. With an estimated population of 734,000, it is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality, and has almost doubled in population in each of the last two decades...
Gateway Postal Facility, the union won a ruling from a labour board that the workers involved could not be dismissed as the length of the investigation exceeded the ten-day limit in the collective agreement under which any allegation of misconduct had to be brought to the attention of the worker. Although the ruling was reversed on appeal, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled that although the decision may have been incorrect, it was not so totally without merit that the labour board's decision should be overturned . The court noted the language was in the collective agreement to keep supervisors from holding infractions over the head of a worker indefinitely.
In 2007, Canada Post was able to sign a 4 year agreement with CUPW without any labour disruptions. For 2007, 2008 and 2009 the corporation was named one of
Canada's Top 100 EmployersCanada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...
, as published in
Maclean'sMaclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine. In 2008, however, it endured a long strike by its administrative worker union - Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) - which compromised customer service.
Nearly all Canada Post employees who are not in the CUPW belong to one of three smaller trade unions. The
Canadian Postmasters and Assistants AssociationThe Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association or CPAA represents rural postal workers for the Canada Post Corporation. The trade union belongs to the Canadian Labour Congress as the federation's smallest National Union....
covers 12,000 rural workers, the Association of Postal Officials of Canada has 3,400 supervisors and the Union of Postal Communications Employees represents 2,600 technical workers.
On June 2, 2011, a labour action involving rotating strikes (the first strike to affect Canada Post in 14 years) commenced with CUPW members striking in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in Hamilton, Ontario on June 3. If Canada Post and CUPW are unable to reach an agreement during talks scheduled on June 3, a wider strike may commence affecting mail service across Canada. On Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 11:59pm EST, Canada Post announced a lockout of CUPW members, marking the 20th work stoppage in the 46 year relationship between CUPW and Canada Post. On June 26, it was announced that operations would resume as of June 27.
Rural Mail
Safety of rural mobile delivery personnel on busy roads has been an ongoing concern. Canada Post launched the Rural Mail Safety Review as rural and suburban mail carriers across the country, supported by their union, raised complaints about workplace safety. As of March 2008, there have been more than 1,400 such complaints. In some cases, the union staged protests in delivering mail, even after Canada Post tests showed there was no undue traffic safety risk at a particular mail box. Such cases were referred to Labour Canada, who in several instances asked Canada Post to cease delivery to mailboxes. In December 2006, the Canadian government ordered that Canada Post maintain rural delivery wherever possible. On January 1, 2004 rural route contractors became employees of Canada Post. They are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Their Rural Suburban Mail Carrier contract expires on December 31, 2011.
Modernization
Moya GreeneMoya Greene is a Canadian civil servant and business woman.Born in Newfoundland, Greene graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts in 1974, and then attended Osgoode Hall Law School....
, former Canada Post CEO, was quoted as saying that years of under-investment to improve the company had hurt its efficiency and its financial performance. In September 2007, she estimated that modernizing the corporation would cost $2.7 billion over five to seven years for new buildings, equipment, technology and training.
Privatization
There have been calls for the privatization of Canada Post. Supporters of privatization contend that the public sector is more labour intensive and uses less capital than the private sector, resulting in state owned enterprises that are less productive. Some argue that the economic crisis coupled with deficit spending makes Canada Post a prime candidate for privatization. Supporters of privatization point to
Great BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, which have given up on the government-enforced monopoly on mail delivery and have exposed their former monopoly mail providers to competition. Additionally, 27 European Union member states have also agreed to end government monopolies on mail delivery. Critics also point to the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, which fully privatized its postal service which had previously expanded into foreign markets and diversified business. The Netherlands Post had invested in TNT's courier operations with Canada Post. Canada Post sold those interests prior to buying a majority stake in Purolator Courier. In 2009, a study conducted at the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
by Professor Edward Iacobucci and other colleagues concluded that privatization of Canada Post would result in "efficiency gains and improvements in service quality". What most people take for granted when reviewing the issue of privatizing the postal service is the high cost of delivery. The monopoly Canada post currently enjoys in letter mail allows an economy of scale that provides for both good wages for the employees, and among the cheapest postage in the world for a very large area of delivery. Countries that have deregulated letter mail have largely had to discontinue everyday delivery due to the loss of this economy of scale and the creation of parallel competing delivery networks which increase costs on the customer and provide for lower wages to their employees.
Letters to Santa Claus
Canada Post receives millions of letters addressed to
Santa ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
each year, with a special dedicated
postal codeA postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
, H0H 0H0 (ho ho ho). About 15,000 current and retired Canada Post employees respond to each letter received on behalf of Santa in many languages. Over the past 27 years more than 15 million letters were written by Canada Post volunteers.
In 2001 emails to Santa started being accepted. More than 44,000 emails were responded to in 2006.
In 1974 three Canada Post employees started to respond to mail addressed to Santa in Montreal, Quebec. In 1982, Canada Post rolled out the initiative across Canada and pledged that every letter sent in would be replied to. It is not required to put on a stamp when sending a letter to Santa Claus but Canada Post gives a donation for
alphabetisationCollation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. One common type of collation is called alphabetization, though collation is not limited to ordering letters of the alphabet...
. Canada Post also receives letters to God and on occasion, the
Easter BunnyThe Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...
. These are answered as well. The first Santa letter to arrive at The London (Ontario) Mail Processing Plant (LMPP) for the 2009 Holiday Season was Wednesday June 3, 2009.
See also
- Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers or CUPW is a public sector trade union representing postal workers employed at Canada Post as well as private sector workers outside Canada Post.-Activities:...
- Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is one of Canada’s largest national labour unions, with members in every province and territory. In fact, it is the biggest union in the Canadian Federal Public Sector...
- Canadian Monopoly
Canadian Monopoly is an edition of the popular board game Monopoly. It features Canadian properties, railways and utilities in place of those from the original game....
- Postmaster General of Canada
The Postmaster General of Canada was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for the Post Office Department . In 1851, management of the post office was transferred from Britain to the provincial governments of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward...
External links
Personnel representation