Canada Post Strike: Alternative Shipping Services & Everything You Need to Know

After 52 Days, Canada Post Services Are "Back To Normal"  (January 6, 2025)

In great news for Canadian eCommerce sellers, Canada Post has reinstated on-time service guarantees and returned to full service levels for domestic parcels effective from the 6th of January 2025. According to the national postal service, the network has now stabilized and is ready to serve customers for all domestic parcel deliveries. This update comes off the back of a challenging peak season for Canadian eCommerce sellers and their customers, where a 31 day strike and further 21 day backlog effectively halted the countries largest delivery services at the busiest time of year. Read on for more details from the 2024 Canada Post strike.

Canada Post Strike Temporarily Resolved, But Backlog Remains a "Serious Challenge" (December 16, 2024)

The 2024 Canada Post strike, which disrupted mail and parcel services across Canada for 31 days during the peak holiday season between November 15 and December 16, has come to a temporary resolution.

Following government intervention, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered Canada Post employees to return to work under their current collective agreement, effective immediately, until May 22, 2025. While operations have resumed, Canada Post will not accept new parcels until Thursday, December 19, to address the massive backlog of undelivered items.

This prolonged disruption impacted millions of Canadians, small businesses, charities, and remote communities, halting essential deliveries such as medications and official documents. During the strike, the backlog grew to an estimated 25 million parcels. Although the government has taken steps to restore services, logistical challenges remain as Canada Post works to clear delayed shipments.

Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon stated that the government’s priority is to balance the rights of workers, employers, and Canadians, emphasizing the need for fair collective bargaining agreements. To address unresolved issues—including wages, job security, and working conditions—the government has launched an Industrial Inquiry Commission to provide recommendations by May 2025. In the meantime, businesses reliant on Canada Post are encouraged to explore alternative courier options to avoid delays during this critical holiday period.

Alternative Canadian Shipping Solutions For 2025

The Canada Post strike highlights the importance of diversifying your shipping strategy ahead of 2025. Multi-carrier shipping platforms can provide the flexibility you need to navigate disruptions.

Benefits of Multi-Carrier Shipping:

• Compare costs and delivery times across multiple couriers in real-time
• Access exclusive rates to reduce shipping expenses by up to 91% off
• Maintain reliability with backup options in case one carrier is unavailable

Top Canada Post Strike Alternatives

As the strike comes to a temporary end effective from today, November 16, ensure your business is well positioned to resume full operations and deliver all outstanding packages. There is a large backlog of outstanding Canadian deliveries and packages that will struggle to be delivered before Christmas, meaning eCommerce sellers should use a tool like Easyship to compare shipping rates, find Canada Post alternatives and review delivery times for urgent mail and parcel delivery.

While the Canada Post strike has presented a significant challenge for brands at the busiest time of year, Easyship has helped thousands of Canadian eCommerce sellers over the past month to improve their shipping operations, compare multiple Canada Post competitors, and find the cheapest available rates for their holiday deliveries.

By understanding the situation, using alternative carriers, and staying informed, sellers can keep their operations running smoothly and maintain customer trust during periods of disruption.

Continue reading: Purolator to temporarily pause new shipments in Canada

What Was The 2024 Canada Post Strike?

The Canada Post strike was a nationwide labor action initiated by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). CUPW announced the strike to address unresolved issues with Canada Post, starting on Friday, November 15, at 12:01 a.m. ET. During the strike, Canada Post operations shut down completely. The strike ended 31 days later, with immediate effect, on December 16 after the Canadian government stepped in with a temporary resolution.

In response, eCommerce sellers were informed to:

Expect Delivery Delays: During the Canada Post strike, mail and parcels were not be processed or delivered, and some post offices were closed. Service guarantees for items in transit were heavily impacted, and no new items were accepted until the strike ended and the backlog was cleared on December 16.

Resuming Operations After the Strike: Once the strike ended, Canada Post had to clear a substantial backlog of outstanding deliveries. With packages and parcels expected to be delivered as quickly as possible on a first-in, first-out basis. However, due to the size and scale of the month-long national shutdown, it is likely to take some time for normal operations and delivery services to return.

How Long Did The Strike Last?

The duration of a strike was 31 days between November 15 to December 31, 2024. Full details of the economic impact remain unclear and will be considered as part of a government review. The return to normal operations will take some time and the total number of parcels affected is estimated to be in excess of 25,000,000 packages with the strike occurring in the busiest quarter of the year.

In a similar occurrence in 2018, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) initiated rotating strikes that lasted for several weeks, starting in October and continuing into November. In response to the ongoing labor action, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government introduced Bill C-89, known as the "Postal Services Resumption and Continuation Act," on November 22, 2018.

This legislation was designed to end the strikes and mandated that postal workers return to work while establishing a mediation-arbitration process to resolve the dispute between Canada Post and CUPW. The House of Commons passed Bill C-89 in the early hours of November 24 after extensive debate, and the Senate followed suit, passing the bill on November 26.

The enactment of Bill C-89 was controversial, as many argued it infringed upon workers' rights to strike. This situation marked a significant moment in Canadian labor relations, reflecting ongoing tensions between labor rights and government intervention in disputes.

As government intervention was once again required in 2024, the political and commercial fallout remains to be seen but will likely be felt by businesses for some time.

Impact of the Strike on Canadian eCommerce Sellers

For eCommerce businesses operating in Canada, the strike delivered its own set of unique challenges. Many small-to-medium businesses relied on Canada Post for affordable shipping, especially during the busy holiday season.

Impact of strike on Canadian small business:

• Delayed deliveries can damage customer trust and brand reputation, particularly if they had already purchased the item prior to the strike and then being forced to wait extended periods for delivery
• If businesses had previously only utilised one courier partner, there was significant business continuity risk as sales pilled up with no way to deliver packages to customers
• Many businesses felt additional pressure on their fulfillment process, as volume and complications rise during Q4 as the busiest shopping season

Recommended Actions for eCommerce Sellers

If your business depends on a single carrier like Canada Post, it’s time to act. Adapting to a multi-carrier shipping strategy can help minimize the impact on operations and keep customers satisfied, no matter if its strike action, bad weather or other unforseen delivery issues which are commonplace.

An all-in-one shipping software like Easyship allows you to effortlessly compare shipping costs and delivery timelines to always select the best option and keep your customers happy.

Steps to Take Ahead of 2025:

• ‍Multi-Carrier Shipping Software: Easyship allows you to effortlessly compare rates and delivery timelines to always select the best option and keep your customers happy. Get started for free.‍
• Diversify Your Carrier Mix: With Easyship, you can access discounted rates on Canada Post and all the top courier alternatives like UPS, Purolator, Sendle, and Canpar.‍
• Extend Handling Times: Update your store settings to reflect longer delivery timelines. This helps manage buyer expectations. This is particularly true as the backlog is still not cleared following the strike. ‍
• Proactively Communicate With Customers: It's always best to be open and transparent with customers to inform them of the likely impact in the event of future strike action.

Looking for more Canadian shipping options?
We’re here to help.

Take care of your holiday shipping with Easyship’s all-in-one shipping platform:

• Instant access to exclusive discounted shipping rates up to 91% off.
• Effortlessly compare more than 550+ courier services globally.
• Automatically sync orders with Shopify, eBay and 60+ eCommerce integrations.
• Generate all shipping documents, manage orders, and print labels in bulk.
• Automatic tax and duty calculation for 220+ countries worldwide.
• Install real-time shipping rates at checkout to increase conversion by up to 3X

Ready to get started? Try Easyship for free today.

Canada Post Strike FAQs

What is the Canada Post strike?

The Canada Post strike is a labor dispute between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

When did the strike start?

The strike began on Friday, November 15, 2024

How long is the strike expected to last?

It's difficult to predict how long the strike will last. It depends on the progress of negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW. As of November 29 2024, the strike is still in effect.

What services are affected by the strike?

The strike is affecting all mail and parcel delivery services across Canada, including regular mail, priority mail, and parcel delivery.

What can businesses do to minimize the impact of the strike?

Businesses can minimize disruptions caused by the Canada Post strike by implementing a multi-carrier shipping solution like Easyship. This enables them to access a variety of reliable carriers such as Sendle, UPS, Canpar, Purolator, and DHL Express, ensuring continued shipping operations.