There’s good news for Canadians waiting on envelopes and parcels for the holidays: Canada Post said all of the items held in the postal system during the five-week countrywide strike have now been processed and are now “flowing” through their network.
“We expect a significant portion of these items to be delivered before Christmas,” the postal agency said in a statement on Friday.
Canada Post said it is making “good progress” to return operations to normal, but added it does not have specific data on the strike-related backlog to share.
To deliver more items before Christmas, Canada Post said employees will be working over the weekend in some cities, but noted it can’t guarantee on-time service.
The Crown corporation also said it will also start accepting new international mail on Monday.
“We expect to return to full service levels and normal delivery standards in early January,” the company added.
Workers went back to work Tuesday after the national labour board ordered an end to the strike, with no new agreement in sight for the postal service and the union.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said Tuesday evening that the federal labour minister’s directive that paused the strike is “an illegal breach” that it will “fight.” Experts previously told the Star that it was unlikely that the postal service would be able to deliver all the packages and cards that were sent through the mail system during the strike.
Canada Post still expects delivery delays
Post offices are now open for people to drop off packages and letters, but Canadians should to expect domestic delivery delays into the new year especially for rural regions.
Items held at local post offices during the strike will remain available for pickup for 15 days from Dec. 17, the statement said.
Between urban centres, Canadians should expect package delivery delays of two to three days, Canada Post said, but those delays could be up to 10 days for longer distances.
Canada Post will be closed Dec. 25 and 26, and January 1. Post offices and postal outlets will be closed and there will be no collection or delivery operations.
With files from The Canadian Press and Hayden Godfrey
