‘Unprecedented’: Canada Post losses blow past half-billion dollars in third quarter
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Canada Post reported the highest quarterly loss in its history Friday, as the beleaguered mail service contends with stiff competition for parcel delivery and disruptions from an ongoing labour dispute.
The Crown corporation reported losses of $541 million before taxes in its third quarter, putting it on track for its worst fiscal year yet. The “unprecedented” losses ballooned 72 per cent from $315 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
“Canada Post’s financial situation continued to deteriorate in the third quarter,” it said in a release.
“Ongoing strike activity and uncertainty continued to drive customers to competitors for their deliveries.”
Revenue from parcels — its most lucrative segment last year — fell 40 per cent to $450 million amid a volume decline of 27 million pieces.
The decrease saw parcel division sales tumble below those of mail delivery — a unit that has seen letter volume decline every year for nearly two decades.
“The company is facing the most severe and challenging financial situation in its history,” it said.
A bargaining saga with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents some 55,000 mail carriers at Canada Post, has now stretched past the two-year mark — with the busy holiday season around the corner.
The organization faces big questions about its business model and its future as letter volumes plunge, with losses topping $5.5 billion since 2018 and a $1-billion federal loan in January keeping it afloat.
On Tuesday, the Crown corporation’s CEO said it expects to lose up to 30,000 employees to retirement or voluntary departure over the next decade as it tries to get costs under control.
Federal Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound unveiled in September a suite of changes aimed at helping Canada Post transform its business model. They include allowing it to adjust mail delivery standards, shutter some rural post offices and expand community mailbox service to more addresses.
Canada Post submitted a plan to the federal government earlier this month to capitalize on those changes, but details of the proposal will not be made public while Ottawa reviews it.
On Friday, Canada Post said it lost $989 million in the first nine months of the year versus $345 million a year earlier.
It said the bulk of those losses came in the second and third quarters, saying they reflect the impact of labour uncertainty on the business amid ongoing rotating strikes by its union.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2025.