You’ve got mail? Canada Post issues ‘clarification’ about mailbox flags

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/08/2025 (388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Canada Post has told its carriers to stop raising the flag on mailboxes to indicate they’ve delivered mail.

The postal service says it’s clarifying a “longstanding national process” and not instituting a new policy, but it could still mean a change for some customers who use the flag to gauge whether they’ve received a letter.

A Canada Post spokesperson says the red indicator on mailboxes is meant to be used by customers telling their mail carrier that there’s outgoing mail, not by the carrier to signal incoming mail.

“The pickup of outgoing mail for delivery is an added service for rural customers,” Ariane Sauvé said in an email.

“Through customer inquiries however, we learned some delivery agents were using the red flags/signal devices to instead notify customers that mail had been delivered/placed in the mailbox. As this is not a national delivery process, it created inconsistencies in how we are serving rural customers.”

Some rural residents have taken to online forums to decry the directive, and Sauvé said the Crown corporation apologizes for any confusion.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it wasn’t told about the instruction from Canada Post, and it’s looking into it.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2025.