People getting mail delivered to the home letter box consider pros and cons of no service

As Canada Post workers continue their strike, people in the London area who still have home delivery are mulling the implications of door-to-door service ending for good.

The federal government announced the measure last week as a necessary step to allow Canada Post to stabilize its finances and ensure its survival. 

Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound said in a statement on Thursday, Canada Post is “effectively insolvent,” and the plan to cancel home delivery, lift a moratorium on closing rural post offices and more, will save it.

In response, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced an immediate nationwide strike.

“I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree because there are a lot of older people that have difficulty getting [to community] mailboxes,” said Londoner Grace Butler. “I don’t get mail every day. That means if I’m expecting something I’d be going to the mailbox for nothing.”

Butler also expressed concerns about the winter months, when sidewalks are slippery and potentially hazardous, and when community mailboxes could potentially be blocked by snow. 

“It’s only going to worsen their position,” she said.

According to the federal government, the nine-year plan to phase out home delivery will affect roughly four million addresses. Many of those addresses can be found in London neighbourhoods like Westmount, Byron and Pond Mills.

Kim Koch said while she doesn’t see a whole lot of mail anymore, her senior mother relies on at-home letter delivery. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)

Pond Mills resident Kim Koch said while she’d rather keep the service, her opinion is mixed.

“Not much mail is coming anymore, but there are some things. I do have a senior mother who doesn’t use technology, so mail is her only way of getting bills and important pieces of paper,” Koch said. “It’s the end of an era. Perhaps it’s time to move on.”

While the number of people receiving and sending physical letters has decreased substantially since peaking in 2006, some people, like Londoner Sara Baek, have stuck with the tradition, affectionately called snail mail by some.

“I have friends that I snail mail and I do use Canada Post for that, just because we think it’s fun,” Baek said. 

“It doesn’t affect me as much because I’m able-bodied, I can walk to a mailbox, but I know my grandma who passed away wouldn’t have been able to. She wouldn’t be able to learn how to go paperless, either.”

Sarah Baek, a London resident, said she doesn’t rely on home delivery, but would rather see it stay. (Alessio Donnini/CBC News)

Baek and others wondered if the government’s approach of cutting service is the right way to ensure the future of Canada Post.

“From what I understand, people don’t use Canada Post because there are options that are cheaper and quicker. Rather than taking an approach of decreasing the cost of running, maybe they should be looking at how to increase profits,” Baek said.

Postal services in other parts of the world do offer services other than mail, including public health contracts to conduct wellness checks, offering passport photo services and banking services.

“There’s no disagreement that through technological change and the decline of volumes of mail, that Canada Post has a fiscal challenge, and a serious one,” Steven Tufts, an associate professor of geography at York University, said.

“Something the unions have been disappointed in, is that Canada Post has not actually focused on increasing revenue streams as much as they have focused on cost cutting.”

Whatever the case, Tufts said, as the strike continues at the behest of a union that looks to resist the newly announced changes, eyes will be on how the federal government handles the situation.

“I think Prime Minister Carney does want to make some cuts to the federal public service, and I think he may want to demonstrate that he’s willing to be hardball with unions,” Tufts said.