Executive summary

Canada Post has reached a historic turning point. For decades, we’ve navigated an evolving delivery landscape as the needs of Canadians have changed. Traditional letter mail has been steadily declining for 20 years, while ecommerce has grown exponentially and accelerated demand for parcel delivery services. Canada Post initially benefitted from early-mover status in the ecommerce economy and became the country’s top parcel delivery company. But competition in ecommerce delivery has intensified significantly over the last several years, eroding the company’s parcel volumes and revenue.

This seismic upheaval in our business environment reflects dramatic changes in the delivery expectations of Canadians. These market shifts have precipitated unsustainable financial losses for Canada Post and highlight the significant reforms needed to secure the future of the postal service. For many years, Canada Post operated under legacy rules and frameworks – built for an era of letter mail – that contributed to its losses and prevented the postal service from fully adapting to modern realities and the dynamic needs of Canadians. That is now changing.

Building a modern and financially sustainable postal service

We have new tentative labour agreements with our largest union that will provide stability and greater flexibility, and the federal government is lifting long-standing barriers to reform. The pathway to renewing and revitalizing the postal service is now clear.

Canada Post is transforming to build a modern postal service that meets the evolving needs of all Canadians and can stand on its own financially – without burdening taxpayers. Our multi-year transformation will make our company and country stronger. At a time of significant global economic uncertainty, a strong Canadian-made, Canadian-run delivery provider that reaches every community is essential for our country’s prosperity.

As we build our plans, we understand that the last year of labour uncertainty was difficult for customers and we need to earn back their trust. We are committed to doing better for them. Our transformation will help us be the delivery provider they want to do business with – boosting our revenues, reducing the need for repayable government cash injections and putting us on a path to financial self-sustainability.

A financial imperative to transform

Canada Post’s deteriorating financial situation has reinforced the urgent need to transform:

Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $1.57 billion in 2025 – the largest in the company’s history – compared to a loss before tax of $841 million in 2024.
From 2018 to 2025, the Corporation lost nearly $5.4 billion before taxes (factoring in one-time gains from 2024 divestitures), while cumulative losses from operations are more than $6.1 billion.
In 2025, Canada Post began receiving repayable funding from the Government of Canada to remain solvent and continue operating. The approved funding of $1.034 billion was intended to sustain operations through the government’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. However, the funding was insufficient due to continued labour uncertainty and disruption throughout 2025.
In early 2026, the government approved up to $1.008 billion in additional repayable funding.
Until the multi-year transformation and financial benefits can be realized, further government funding is expected to be required to support operations, maintain solvency and invest in modernizing the postal system.
The company continues to find ways to operate more efficiently and control costs, without impacting service – including reducing management headcount by 10 per cent in 2025.

The changing delivery needs of Canadians

Canada Post’s financial trajectory has been driven in large part by the sharp decline in domestic letter mail volumes and revenue. In 2006, our peak mail year, we delivered approximately 5.5 billion letters. In 2025, we delivered about 2 billion. As mail revenue declines, our delivery costs keep increasing, with more than 200,000 new addresses added annually. Since 2006, the number of addresses we serve has increased by nearly 3.6 million, while the amount of letter mail per address has declined by 70 per cent.

The number of addresses grows each year...

The number of addresses served by Canada Post grows annually, with a 3.6M total increase since peak mail year 2006.

... as letter mail per address declines

There’s been a 70% decline in the number of letters received per address since peak mail year 2006.

Find a data table for our address growth infographic and a data table for our letter mail decline infographic on our page Delivery reach and letter mail data.

While letter mail continues to play an important role, the Canadian ecommerce market is projected to double over the next decade – making parcel delivery the company’s key area for growth. However, fierce competition in ecommerce parcel delivery, combined with labour uncertainty, has significantly eroded Canada Post’s market share in recent years. Low-cost “gig” delivery services and well-established global companies have collectively gained a majority share of the market, as customers seek carriers that can deliver their items more quickly and conveniently, including on evenings and weekends.

For years, Canada Post has largely delivered parcels from Monday to Friday, whereas many competitors deliver seven days a week. Our ability to offer customers affordable weekend delivery was challenged by the collective agreements with our largest union. Through the negotiations process, both parties were able to agree on an approach to provide additional flexibility and a weekend delivery model. These changes – which are built into the new tentative agreements, pending ratification – will help Canada Post capitalize on the continued growth in the Canadian ecommerce market.

Providing customers with more certainty and convenience

In December 2025, Canada Post reached tentative agreements with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that, if ratified, will begin to provide more of the stability, certainty and convenience that customers need. These new tentative agreements with CUPW’s Urban Postal Operations (UPO) and Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) bargaining units followed two years of difficult negotiations. The agreements – if ratified by union members in a vote scheduled for April 20 to May 30, 2026 – would be in effect until January 31, 2029.

Canada Post will work closely with its bargaining agents as the company modernizes and transforms the postal service, while preserving good Canadian jobs. We will continue to be fair and respectful to our employees as we implement changes, in full accordance with our collective agreements and the Canada Labour Code.

If ratified, the new collective agreements with CUPW will allow us to better serve Canadians and businesses today and in the future, with a new operating model to support affordable weekend parcel delivery. Weekend delivery will help us compete for a larger share of the ecommerce delivery market, including on weekdays, which will boost our parcel business and increase revenue. These changes will be important as we continue working with the government on our proposed transformation plan.

Canada Post’s transformation plan

Guided by the Canada Post Corporation Act, Canada Post’s mandate is to provide a high-quality postal service at a reasonable price to all Canadians – rural and urban, individuals and businesses – in a secure and financially self-sustaining manner. But in September 2025, our shareholder, the Government of Canada, acknowledged that this mandate was not achievable under the existing policies.

The government therefore announced that it would be lifting long-standing regulatory and policy restrictions and directed Canada Post to begin transforming the postal service. In November 2025, the Corporation submitted a comprehensive transformation plan. The proposed plan aims to return Canada Post to financial self-sustainability, while preserving its role as a vital public service.

Our proposed plan is an investment in the future to ensure every Canadian – living in urban, rural, remote and Indigenous communities – has access to affordable, reliable and high-quality postal services that align with their changing needs. Canada Post’s transformation will strengthen the postal service, better support businesses and enable national commerce, while helping the Corporation meet its dual mandate of delivering for all Canadians in a way that is financially self-sustainable.

Powering future growth and innovation

Our proposed transformation plan includes several initiatives that will grow the business, increase revenue and help put us on a path to financial self-sustainability:

Parcel growth

Grow parcel volumes and revenue by leveraging existing sort-and-delivery capacity, our proposed new weekend delivery model and targeted pricing strategies.
Focus on improving ecommerce returns services, enhancing local next-day delivery options and tailoring offerings for small and mid-sized businesses.

Letter mail pricing

Establish a sustainable pricing strategy for letter mail to better align with international standards, current market realities and operational costs.
Create flexibility to implement letter mail price increases in a more timely manner. Proposed amendments to the Canada Post Corporation Act announced in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2025 will update the time-consuming approval process for postage increases.

Diversification and other income sources

Pursue new sources of revenue – such as expanded roles in financial services, multi-channel advertising and the ecommerce value chain – that align with our core business and build on our network, assets and brand.
Continue to look for ways to grow revenue from our direct marketing services – which help Canadian businesses, institutions and charities reach people across the country.

Aligning our network with a modern Canada

The proposed transformation plan will evolve Canada Post’s network to align with how Canadians and businesses use the postal service today, while continuing to support the needs of all communities. With the proposed changes, we will:

Centralized delivery

Convert remaining door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes to sustain cost-effective delivery and provide a similar service level across Canadian addresses.
Continue to offer and enhance the Delivery Accommodation Program to ensure all Canadians have appropriate access to mail service in a way that matches their needs.

Retail modernization

Modernize and optimize our retail network to better align services with how Canadians shop and use the postal service. We’ll begin with areas that were once rural and are now urban and well served with other post offices nearby.
Ensure the maintenance of service to rural, remote and Indigenous communities, and provide comparable service standards to those in urban and suburban areas.

Updating letter mail service standards

Work with the government to adjust letter mail delivery standards in the Canadian Postal Service Charter to adapt to lower mail volumes and the profound shift in how Canadians communicate. This updated approach will enable more efficient processing, greater use of ground transportation, and additional flexibility to increase productivity across our network.
Continue to provide reliable service. For most Canadians, it is anticipated that these service standard changes will increase letter mail delivery times by one to two days. For those sending letters coast to coast, delivery times could increase by about three days.

Continuous improvement and other savings opportunities

Enhance core productivity through a continuous improvement program that helps operations run more efficiently and effectively.
Reduce the size of our overall workforce by leveraging our projected high levels of natural attrition – including retirements and voluntary turnover – while minimizing people impacts.

A strong foundation to build on

We’re not starting our transformation from scratch. Canada Post is building on significant strengths already in place and has taken decisive steps to lay the foundation for transformation and improve service. For example, we have:

Invested in new sort-and-delivery capacity – including the Albert Jackson Processing Centre in Toronto – which positions us to compete and capture growth in an ecommerce market that’s expected to double over the next decade.
Built an unparalleled delivery network that touches every corner of the country, and the most experienced team in the delivery business.
Launched a new pricing platform that will enable us to better compete for business and grow our revenue. It will help give us greater precision and flexibility in how we price and promote our services, and provide a modern foundation that will support future pricing and product innovations.
Enhanced information technology (IT) operations to deliver new digital products and services to customers faster, and help position the company for growth.
Modernized our enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, which streamlines core financial, procurement and operational processes – and will provide an improved experience for customers.

A vital national infrastructure

Canada, like many countries around the world, is navigating enormous economic instability and uncertainty. The foundation is shifting on decades-old trading alliances. This rapidly changing environment is presenting significant challenges to Canadians, businesses and communities. Our country needs a modern and thriving national postal service that continues to deliver for all Canadians, meets their ecommerce and mailing needs, and operates as a public good.

Canada Post is the only delivery company serving all of the more than 17.8 million addresses from coast to coast to coast. We provide a vital national infrastructure that reaches Canadians, businesses and communities no matter where they’re located. We give small and mid-sized businesses a more affordable delivery option with a truly national reach. We’re a lifeline for rural, remote and Indigenous communities. We go further to bring Canadians closer.

Our commitment to all Canadians

As we begin our transformation journey – and navigate the path to financial self-sustainability – we will remain grounded in our guiding principlesthat we shared with Canadians in October 2025.

We are committed to working with the Government of Canada, our bargaining agents, employees and communities to renew and modernize the postal service. Our goal is to provide a reliable, affordable and financially sustainable service that strengthens our country and meets the evolving needs of all Canadians for years to come.