Canada Post resumed limited mail and parcel movement on Saturday, October 11, after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) shifted from a two‑week, nationwide shutdown to rotating walkouts that start at 6 a.m. in each time zone. The change is intended to keep pressure on the Crown corporation while allowing essential volumes to move again.
Operationally, the carrier warned commercial customers to expect instability. Canada Post said service guarantees are suspended and advised that new commercial volumes will not be accepted into its network until Wednesday, October 15, as it clears freight and mail “trapped” during the shutdown. That pause is a critical constraint for shippers and 3PLs that induct directly into Canada Post plants or depots.
Rotating strikes are already targeting select communities. On Saturday, CUPW actions were underway in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador; Timmins, Ontario; and Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, British Columbia, with the union indicating more locals will be added with limited notice. For carriers planning linehaul into northern Ontario or northeastern B.C., that means day‑to‑day variability at specific depots and delivery units.
The labor backdrop remains tense. CUPW says it rejected Canada Post’s latest offer and is resisting federal plans to overhaul the postal service—changes the union argues would cut thousands of jobs and reduce service. Ottawa has framed reforms as necessary given sustained losses and parcel‑market competition, while the union maintains the bargaining table—not a restructuring mandate—is where the dispute should be resolved.
Why it matters for trucking and parcel operators: the shift to rotating strikes creates a “zip‑code roulette” effect in last‑mile. Linehaul can restart to many zones, but specific plants can go offline with limited lead time, triggering rolling pockets of congestion and extra dwell for trailers at affected depots. Carriers feeding Canada Post for final‑mile handoff should expect irregular tender windows through at least mid‑week and plan for temporary diversions or hold‑backs when a destination facility is struck.
For cross‑border retailers and U.S. carriers serving Canadian e‑commerce, the key near‑term limiter is intake. With Canada Post not accepting new commercial volume until October 15, shipments staged for postal induction—including consolidated parcels moving via Canadian freight hubs—will sit in buffer until the intake gate reopens, then face slower‑than‑normal processing as the network works through backlog. That pushes more volume to private couriers, which Canada Post itself notes has been happening during repeated work stoppages this year. Expect spillover to private‑parcel and regional final‑mile fleets, along with tighter capacity and surcharges on some lanes.
SMEs that leaned on Canada Post for coast‑to‑coast reach should also brace for delayed returns and customer‑service friction. Date‑specific Neighbourhood Mail remains unavailable for now, complicating promotional drops that many small retailers time for fall sales. Where possible, shippers can mitigate by staging inventory closer to customers, using multi‑carrier labels to hedge day‑by‑day outages, and pre‑clearing returns with alternate carriers to avoid stranded parcels.
What to watch this week: Canada Post has said it will provide more operational detail ahead of Wednesday, October 15, when commercial intake is slated to resume. Carriers should monitor daily strike locations and prepare for short‑fuse adjustments to terminal appointments and driver dispatch. If rotating actions widen beyond Saturday’s initial communities, expect a second wave of backlogs later in the week as newly affected plants pause processing.
Sources: FreightWaves, Canada Post, Reuters, Global News
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