Is the postal code transition in Puslinch a disaster or not … it depends who you talk to.
For people like Paul and Gayle Rice who live on the Puslinch side of the boundary road of the township and the city of Guelph, the transition is a disaster.
The couple emailed to the Advertiser recently with the subject line: Post Offices bungles mailing address changes in Puslinch.
The issue itself arises from recent efforts by Canada Post to reallign rural routes in which some resident addresses would switch from being listed as a rural route of Guelph, to Puslinch.
Rice contends “The problem, however, is far more widespread than previously reported and affects about two-thirds of Puslinch residents.”
He stated there are now a potential of more than one possible mailing address in the Maltby Road West area.
“To say the least, the whole situation is frustrating.”
At Puslinch Township, Mayor Dennis Lever stated there was an error regarding someone on Arkell Road being relabelled as being in Puslinch.
Lever said there was a contingent of residents in the Aberfoyle area hoping to have that community as a secondary option. “Those are the main people we’ve heard from. I haven’t heard much from others.”
Lever noted the first time he remembered hearing issues was in the McLean Road area four years ago.
At that time, he was told Canada Post had a program in which it intended to align physical addresses with postal codes.
Lever added “According to Canada Post, I live in Cambridge … as do many residents in the west end of Puslinch who share the postal code of RR22 Cambridge.”
Lever said Puslinch has changed considerably over the years.
In the past, rural drivers knew where to deliver mail simply by knowing who lived in specific locations and by name.
“They were less concerned about the physical address.”
He said “Over time, that generation is no longer delivering the mail – now it must be delivered according to the civic address.”
CAO Karen Landry said the township has received some calls, but attributed them to the timing and the costs involved for residents to change addresses.
“We’ve received a few … but not a lot.”
Lever added the change also affects a number of businesses and companies.
“They were generally OK with the idea, but wanted assurance the address would only change once.”
