Canada Post changing how it delivers mail

Published on Friday August 17, 2012   Vanessa Lu Business Reporter
The days of the letter carrier, sorting mail at local depot, tucking letters into a pouch, and then going door to door along a route are disappearing.
Canada Post is moving to a new method of delivery — called postal transformation — where carriers will collect machine-sorted mail as well as parcels, then drive small vans to their routes. They park, deliver mail, and then get back into the vehicles to the next stop.
And on their way back to depots, they’ll stop and collect mail from nearby street letterboxes or retail outlets.
To date, more than 3,500 routes across Canada have switched to the new delivery method across Canada including nearly 1,000 in the Greater Toronto Area.
That accounts for about 1.5 million addresses overall or about 10 per cent of all addresses in Canada, though rural and suburban mail delivery remains unchanged.
In Toronto, Canada Post is set to launch more route changes next Monday for those who live at addresses with postal codes beginning with M4L, M4M, M4C, M4E, M4J and M4K.
Others will follow in mid-September including Ajax, with postal codes that start with L1S, L1T, L1Z; Scarborough’s M1B, M1C, M1E, M1G and M1H, and Pickering’s L1V, L1W, L1X and L1Y
Canada Post warns with two shifts, some carriers will be starting later, so that means mail may arrive later in the day than customers are used to.
“The amount of mail in the system is declining, so we need better and more efficient ways of delivering the mail,” said Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton, emphasizing once the new method is implemented across Canada it should result in annual savings of $250 million.
The new model won’t adopt the U.S. Postal Service’s style where delivery vans often pull up to mailboxes at the curb where carriers don’t get out of their vehicles.
Hamilton said this new system will help reduce labour costs, which account for 71 per cent of Canada Post’s budget, because by changing starting time, letter carriers will be able to mail pickups at the end of their shifts.
“It’s much more efficient,” Hamilton said, adding the carrier will also deliver parcels which are on the rise due to online shopping. “Over time, you need fewer employees. You can do more with one person.”
That’s what has the Canadian Union of Postal Workers worried. It doesn’t dispute that the post office must adapt, but it fears the changes raise health and safety risks because carriers do not have inside duties, such as sorting. Instead, they are outside, delivering on longer routes.
“We accept the new way of delivery. The letter carrier now will be a multi-functional worker because he can deliver mail, parcels and larger parcels, and pick up mail,” said union president Denis Lemelin.
“But at the same time, we have to eliminate the adverse effects of this,” he said, noting carriers are juggling more items as well as mail bags so there are higher injury rates.
Canada Post said safety numbers improve the more the new system is rolled out.
Darryl Ellis, president of CUPW’s Toronto local, said small businesses in areas where the new delivery system is already in place have complained about getting their mail late in the afternoon. As well, Canada Post is closing some postal counters and consolidating others.
“Service is suffering. There will be slowdowns in delivery,” Ellis said, adding machine sorting of mail has an impact on accuracy and how quickly mail is delivered