Residents here who receive their mail via home delivery should enjoy it while it lasts.
Canada Post has announced it will be phasing out home delivery over five years, starting in 2014, in favour of community mailboxes. The Crown corporation is expected to cut between 6,000 and 8,000 carrier jobs within the next two years in urban centres.
The move, announced by Canada post on Dec. 11, will affect about one-third of all Canadian households. The remainder already receive their mail via community mailboxes, or from grouped/lobby mailboxes or rural mailboxes.
In the Wellington County area, Fergus, Elmira and Listowel are the only smaller urban centres that currently have some households with door-to-door carrier service.
Several Canada Post home delivery carriers told the Advertiser they are concerned about the future.
“Even with 15 years I have the least seniority … “I’m pretty worried about it,” said one, who preferred to remain anonymous, while on his route in Fergus.
It’s a feeling shared by local indoor postal worker Rose Shaw.
Though she is retiring in March after 38 years with the corporation, Shaw said the cutbacks will affect “other [postal workers] in the middle of everything.”
The Fergus home delivery carrier said the cutback will impact his elderly customers and those with disabilities, as well as those who do not have internet service to pay bills.
“The elderly people appreciate it,” he said of daily door-to-door service.
Canada Post also announced last week that as of March 31, the cost of mailing a letter will jump 35 per cent – from 63 to 85 cents – for stamps bought in booklets.
The cost of a single stamp will jump to $1, and business mail will cost 75 cents.
Anick Losier, director of media relations at Canada Post, said dwindling mail volumes have forced the Crown corporation to look at cutbacks.
Canada Post reportedly lost $134 million in the first three-quarters of this year due to continuing drops in mail volume.
Losier said Canada Post has not worked out the details about when any mail delivery change will take place.
“Everything is going to be done gradually over the next five years,” she said.
She added the corporation will work with the municipality and its mail delivery customers to determine the best placement for mailboxes.
That will happen well in advance of any change.
“In Fergus we’re going to work with the municipality and the customers,” said Losier, who added job cutbacks will be done through attrition.
