Canada Post said Monday it lost a staggering $1.57 billion before tax last year, a record-smashing loss it blamed on labour uncertainty and barriers to modernization.
The financial loss is nearly double the $841 million before tax the national mail carrier lost the year before, the company said in a statement alongside its annual report.
“The severity of the corporation’s financial situation underscores the urgency to transform and meet the modern needs of the country,” the statement said.
Revenues fell nearly five per cent, or $315 million, which Canada Post said was due to a sharp 32.6 per cent decline in parcel volumes last year.
Many customers shifted their parcel deliveries to private carriers during last year’s labour unrest that saw Canada Post workers take several job actions — culminating in a nationwide strike — as it sought to negotiate a new contract.
The two sides finally reached tentative agreements late last year.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began voting on whether to ratify the new contracts on Monday, a process set to last more than a month. The union has urged its members to approve the deals.
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The company said Monday that parcel revenues fell by $850 million compared to the year before during the strike actions, a loss offset somewhat by the $256-million profit reported by its subsidiary Purolator, which operates separately from Canada Post.
“Given the impact on customers, the lost parcel volumes will be challenging to win back — emphasizing the need to modernize Canada Post’s services in a competitive market,” the Crown corporation said.
Earlier this month, Canada Post laid out its five-year plan to convert the four million addresses across the country that still receive door-to-door mail delivery to community mailbox service.
The move is part of a larger transformation plan announced by the federal government last fall, which includes relaxing letter mail delivery standards and shuttering some post offices in areas once considered rural but have since grown more suburban or urban.
Both the government and the company have promised that delivery services will be protected for rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
Canada Post also laid off members of its management team last year as required by the government under the transformation plan. It has said it plans to reduce its workforce mostly through attrition and retirements.
The government says the transformation plan, which Canada Post has adopted, will save the company hundreds of millions of dollars a year and move it away from relying on federal cash injections.
Ottawa loaned Canada Post another $1 billion earlier this year after the company burned through a previous $1.03-billion loan faster than it anticipated.
Canada Post said Monday it agreed with the government that it is “critical” for the company to transform and end its reliance on taxpayer-funded loans.
The company said in November it had already lost over $1 billion in 2025 due to the then-ongoing labour unrest.
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