{"id":518186,"date":"2026-03-06T13:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/518186\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:08:07","slug":"n-w-t-libraries-welcome-ottawas-decision-to-continue-low-cost-postage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/518186\/","title":{"rendered":"N.W.T. libraries welcome Ottawa\u2019s decision to continue low-cost postage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Northwest Territories’ public library service says it welcomes a federal government decision to retain low postage rates for libraries and free postage of material for the blind. <\/p>\n

\u201cReduced postage rates and protections that support the distribution of accessible materials help ensure residents can continue to access books, educational resources and culturally relevant materials regardless of where they live,\u201d Thierry Lavoie, senior communications advisor with the territory’s education department, wrote in an email to CBC News.<\/p>\n

Currently, public, academic and non-profit libraries in Canada benefit from a library book rate, which allows them reduced postage when mailing materials. Canada Post cannot change this rate without federal government authorization.<\/p>\n

Last November, Ottawa introduced Bill C-15, an act to implement the 2025 federal budget. Tucked into the 634-page document were amendments to the Canada Post Corporation Act that would allow Canada Post to make changes to book rates without federal government approval.<\/p>\n

It would mean Canada Post could change the library book rate and discontinue the free postage for the blind program.<\/p>\n

After months of public backlash from libraries<\/a>, accessibility advocates and legal experts, the federal government amended Bill C-15 to ensure that Canada Post continues to provide the library book rate and free postage for the blind. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Library services are important in small communities<\/p>\n

Lavoie said access to affordable shipping for library materials is especially important in the Northwest Territories, adding that many communities are small and isolated and accessible only by air or seasonal roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The territory’s education department funds and supports 21 community libraries across the territory and provides a “borrow by mail” service for residents in communities without libraries.<\/p>\n

The reduced shipping rates allow territorial libraries to distribute books and resources across the N.W.T.’s 33 communities at a fraction of what it would otherwise cost.<\/p>\n

Diane Bergeron, head of global strategies with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, said the continued free postage for materials for people who are blind is \u201can enormous win\u201d for the visually impaired and blind community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bergeron added that residents in smaller communities do not always have reliable internet and instead depend on easily delivered audio books and other accessible formats for education and entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cBraille is much larger in comparison to regular print. And the cost of mailing a book in braille is enormous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Compared to a print cookbook, Bergeron\u2019s braille cookbook is nine volumes and would cost significantly more to ship if the free rates had ended, she said.<\/p>\n

Bergeron added that even when readers have access to the internet, it isn\u2019t a replacement for the written word.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as sighted people like to pick up a book even though they still have access electronically, it’s just as important for those of us that are blind and use braille to be able to access the written word in a format that is accessible to us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-518186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}