Few Canadians support Canada Post privatization, but open to sweeping changes: survey

A new survey finds less support among Canadians for the privatization of Canada Post, but many are open to large-scale changes amid labour strife between the Crown corporation and its union.

Survey results from the Angus Reid Institute, released Wednesday, found 59 per cent said they were opposed to the government selling off Canada Post. Meanwhile, 47 per cent of respondents said they were against privatizing some of the Crown corporation. 

The survey also found 64 per cent said it was important that the postal service continue to be publicly owned. 

Canadians were also open to sweeping changes in Canada Post’s operations, with 72 per cent saying they would reduce mail delivery to three days a week. 

Additionally, 52 per cent said the Crown corporation should be able to use non-union gig workers for deliveries if it improves cost and quality of service. 

The results were derived from an online survey conducted earlier this month among Canadian adult members of the Angus Reid Forum.

It comes as the Crown corporation and the union representing 55,000 mail workers are still struggling to hammer out a labour agreement. 

The federal government intervened last week to force unionized Canada Post workers to vote directly on the latest offers from the postal service, though no date has been set.

Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu announced on social media that she is using her powers under the Canada Labour Code to put Canada Post’s latest offers to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for a vote.

This came after the union said it refused to meet halfway on arbitration as talks stalled. The union said the Crown corporation was unwilling to collaborate on drafting terms for an arbitrator to weigh and hand down a deal. 

Before that, Canada Post rejected a framework put forward by the union for a binding arbitration process, which Hajdu had requested the parties work toward days earlier.

Canada Post and its union have been negotiating for about a year and a half regarding a new deal for workers as the Crown corporation’s financial circumstances have worsened. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.