News releases

With COVID-related restrictions easing across the country, businesses are reopening and fewer Canadians are at home during the day. As a result, we are entering a new phase in our efforts to ensure the safety of our people and our customers while providing an essential service. These efforts will involve carefully phasing out some of the changes we made, while modifying or keeping other changes. We will move in phases, with the first set of changes highlighted below beginning at the end of July. Further changes are being reviewed and will be communicated in the coming months.

As we move forward, we will continue to put the safety of our people and customers first, following the advice of Canada’s public health experts.

Service levels are improving

We continue to process and deliver parcels at record levels, while maintaining physical distancing in all aspects of our operations. In June, we delivered 75 per cent more parcels than we did in June 2019, but we have seen parcel volumes start to come down slowly in July as stores reopen. At the same time, we have been able to make significant progress in reducing backlogs, resulting in shorter delays for customers. Parcel delays of up to a few days should continue to be expected for domestic parcels, as we continue to maintain a two-metre distance between employees and customers. As a result, parcel service guarantees continue to be suspended.

Important physical distancing measures remain in place

Physical distancing measures continue across our operations – in plants, depots, post offices and during delivery. While these measures can add time to the process, keeping a distance of at least two metres remains vitally important to the safety of our employees and our customers.

“Knock, Drop and Go” delivery continues with minor modifications

As fewer Canadians are at home during the day, we are making some modifications to our existing Knock, Drop and Go procedure for the delivery of parcels. As a result, when the sender has selected “Do Not Safe Drop” a parcel will not be left at the door if no one is home. Starting August 4, the delivery employee will knock at the door or ring the bell, step back and wait for an answer. If someone is home, the item will be left at a safe distance for the customer. If no one appears be home, a card will be left for the customer to pick up the item at the post office. This approach maintains a physical distance of at least two metres between delivery employees and customers.

We will continue to prevent close customer interactions during delivery, which would undermine physical distancing measures. Therefore, delivery employees will still not collect signatures or deliver parcels requiring proof of age or the collection of customs fees. These items will continue to be delivered to a nearby post office for pickup by the customer.

Restoring our 15-day limit for holding parcels at post offices

In March, we provided customers additional time to retrieve their parcels from the post office. With restrictions easing, we will return to a 15-day limit for customers to retrieve their parcels after receiving a card with instructions. Items held beyond 15 days will be returned to the sender.

Free Hold Mail and Mail Forwarding services for businesses closed due to COVID restrictions

Since late March, Canada Post has been holding – at no charge – mail addressed to businesses and organizations that shut down or had restricted access due to COVID-19. We have also been providing free Mail Forwarding service to businesses forced to operate out of a temporary location. Many signed up for the free services in the early stages, but as businesses are reopening, requests for the free services have declined significantly.

We will be ending new sign-ups for the free Hold Mail service and the free Mail Forwarding service as of August 1, 2020. Businesses that registered since the start of the COVID period have been notified that if they still require the Hold Mail or Mail Forwarding service, they can continue receiving either for free by renewing before August 1, 2020.

Thank you for trusting us to deliver your items, while putting safety first

We thank Canadians and thousands of businesses across the country for continuing to put their trust in us to deliver their items safely. We also thank customers for their patience as we have worked hard to respond to the unique challenges of the last few months.

We’ll continue to keep customers updated on our efforts through this next phase. Please visit canadapost.ca and click on the banner at the top of the page.

For more information:
Customer Service: 1-866-607-6301