October 10,2025
RED FM News Desk
Mail delivery is set to partially resume after the union representing Canada Post employees announced it will move from a nationwide strike to rotating work stoppages beginning Saturday morning.
The change, announced late Thursday night, will allow mail and parcels to start moving again, even as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said rotating strikes would begin at 6 a.m. local time.
The union added that local branches will be notified when it’s their turn to temporarily halt operations closer to that time.
“This will get mail and parcels flowing again, while we continue our fight for fair collective agreements and a strong public postal service,” CUPW national president Jan Simpson said in a statement.
The move offers some relief to small businesses that rely on postal deliveries, though uncertainty remains, said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“CUPW’s strategy of pushing customers toward more reliable alternatives was puzzling,” Kelly said in a statement. “While some service resumption is welcome, rotating strikes will still mean uncertainty, backlogs, delivery delays, and frustrated customers. We urge the government to end the strike entirely and advance its planned reforms as quickly as possible.”
CUPW, which represents 55,000 postal workers, launched the nationwide strike on September 25, hours after the federal government unveiled major changes to Canada Post’s business model.
The government’s plan includes phasing out door-to-door mail delivery for nearly all Canadian households and lifting a moratorium on converting addresses to community mailboxes—allowing Canada Post to convert the remaining four million addresses still receiving home delivery, a move expected to save about $400 million annually.
Ottawa also intends to end a longstanding freeze on closing rural post offices, in place since 1994, which affects roughly 4,000 locations. The government said some closures in areas that are no longer rural will help reduce duplication where services overlap.
In addition, non-urgent mail will be shifted from air to ground transportation to reflect lower delivery volumes, saving Canada Post an estimated $20 million annually.
Joel Lightbound, the minister responsible for Canada Post, welcomed the union’s decision to switch to rotating strikes.
“Canadians depend on mail delivery, and I’m pleased to hear that service will resume while negotiations continue,” he said in a social media post.
The union’s announcement followed a meeting with Lightbound, during which CUPW voiced its opposition to the government’s proposed changes.
“We couldn’t stand by while the government rolled out plans that would gut our postal service and eliminate thousands of jobs,” Simpson said. “For years, this employer has chipped away at postal services, worker rights, and good jobs, and its latest offers are an outright attack on public service. The government’s announcement on September 25 only emboldened Canada Post to undermine bargaining.”
Simpson said the union plans to meet again with Lightbound’s office next week.
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