NDP Leader wants Ottawa to stamp Canada Post cuts ‘return to sender’

Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis called on Ottawa to reverse cutbacks at Canada Post, which the government says is losing $10 million a day.

At a town hall in Winnipeg, Lewis — joined by NDP MP Leah Gazan and provincial Education Minister Tracy Schmidt — said Canada Post is one of the country’s most “precious” public services the government is undermining in favour of private business.

“We will not give up without a fight,” he told the crowd of approximately 200 at Sinclair Park Community Centre in the city’s North End.

The event, hosted by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, was a chance for members of the public to detail the effects cutbacks will have on their lives. Lewis called the cuts an “attack” on Canada Post.

“This is a public service that connects us,” he said to applause.

During the event, community members raised concerns about what the cuts will mean for people with disabilities, the unchecked operations of private delivery companies in Canada, job losses and wealth inequity, and how the changes will hurt the most vulnerable.

In September 2025, the federal government announced Canada Post would be undergoing a transformation due to money troubles — it was losing approximately $10 million a day — and announced the phase out of door-to-door delivery on April 16.

The current plan will see about four million addresses converted to community mailboxes over five years, starting with 136,000 in late 2026 and early 2027.

Sixteen-thousand of those addresses, in area codes R2P, R2R, R2V, R2W, R2X, R3E, R3H, are in Winnipeg.

The Canada Post cuts are putting pressure on the city’s most vulnerable and seniors, said Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), who called the cuts “ruthless.”

“Everybody was worried about the Conservatives, but the Liberal government is pushing the same agenda,” she said, noting the NDP rebuild “starts now.”

An interview request with Joël Lightbound, Canada’s minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, was not accommodated. In a statement texted from his office, Minister Lightbound said the changes are a must to keep Canada Post viable.

“Losing $10 million every day isn’t sustainable, and Canadians can’t keep paying that price,” he said. “We want to see Canada Post modernize and transform so it can keep serving Canadians for years to come.”

MLA Schmidt, a former postal worker, says this isn’t the first time the federal government has tried to remove door-to-door delivery, saying it was outcry from the community that put it on pause.

“We have won this battle before,” Schmidt told the crowd.

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca