Canada Post reports deeper financial loss in quarterly update

Canada Post saw hundreds of millions of dollars drain out of its coffers last quarter, due largely to its dwindling share of the parcels market — while an ongoing strike continues to batter its bottom line.

The Crown corporation said Friday it lost $315 million before tax in the third quarter, larger than its $290 million loss a year earlier.

“An increasingly crowded and highly competitive e-commerce delivery market continued to impact parcels results in the third quarter of 2024,” Canada Post said. The number of packages dropped by six million or nearly 10 per cent year-over-year.

Letter mail volumes also eroded further, though revenue nudged up due to a hike in stamp prices, it said.

The tough financial results put Canada Post on track for “another significant loss” in 2024, which would mark the seventh year in a row in the red.

They also come as Canada Post deals with a weeklong shutdown of its operations after more than 55,000 workers across the country walked off the job on Nov. 15.

The two sides have been wrangling over wages and contract work as well as job security, benefits and working conditions.

Amid the sudden halt of deliveries — government benefit cheques are among the few exceptions — business has increased at other shipping outfits.

“We have seen a double-digit increase in volumes week over week as we continue to meet the needs of Canadians at this busy time,” said Purolator — majority-owned by Canada Post — in an email Tuesday.

FedEx has implemented a “contingency plan” to manage higher volumes, said spokesman James Anderson earlier this week.

The last postal work stoppage took place starting in late October 2018, when employees carried out rotating strikes lasting 31 days.

That strike as well as one in 2011 ended when the federal government passed legislation sending employees back to work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024.