In the News: Outdated Rules and Mounting Losses: Can Anything be Done to fix Canada Post?

Canada Post needs drastic measures to staunch the fiscal bleeding and revamp its operations after a tough decade, experts say.

The Crown corporation lost $748 million before taxes in 2023, its second-worst year on record as Canadians sent fewer letters while competitors gobbled up even more of the parcel market.

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Earlier this month, Canada Post raised the cost of a stamp purchased in a booklet by seven cents to 99 cents. The price hike is expected to add $23.8 million to its gross revenue between this month and April 2025, said spokesman Phil Legault. That amounts to about three per cent of last year’s loss.

“I am still one of those odd people that mail 50, 60 Christmas cards. But most people don’t. They’ve gone digital.”

Advertising mail has also declined, as environmental groups put pressure on retailers and digital marketing gains a greater foothold amid rising online orders.

“Companies were getting flack for sending out junk mail,” Ryder said.

Parcel delivery marks Canada Post’s one “bright spot,” he said, though even that segment saw roughly three per cent declines last year.

The postal service’s share of the parcel market eroded from 62 per cent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to 29 per cent last year, as Amazon and other competitors seized on skyrocketing demand for next-day doorstep deliveries.

Read the full article on CTV News.

Marvin Ryder

Associate Professor, Marketing

Marvin Ryder has taught for 34 years and has mentored more than 7,000 graduate and undergraduate students. He has written more than 70 case studies illustrating marketing, business strategy, and entrepreneurship problems. Half of them have been published in leading Canadian marketing texts including case studies on Porsche, Union Gas, Crayola, and Molson Breweries. Today, Marvin is most recognized for nearly 350 appearances annually on television (CTV, CBC, Global, and CHCH-TV), radio (CHML, Newstalk 1010, Spice 1200AM, CKTB 610AM, and CFPL 980AM), and in newspapers (National Post, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and the Hamilton Spectator) commenting on business issues of the day.