Canada Post is preparing for one of the largest workforce reductions in the federal public sector as it faces mounting financial losses and political pressure. The Crown corporation reported a record pre-tax loss of $1.57 billion in 2025, up sharply from $841 million the year before. This marked its eighth straight year in the red and the largest deficit on record.
Strike activity by mail carriers during 2024–25 drove parcel customers to private competitors, cutting volumes by more than 30 per cent in 2025 alone. The company warns this reversal will be difficult to recover even as labour peace returns.
To stabilise finances, the national postal service has outlined plans to cut about 30,000 jobs by 2035, mainly through retirements, voluntary departures, and redeployment rather than mass layoffs. The corporation required over $1 billion in repayable federal funding in 2025 and has since secured authorisation for additional loans in 2026 to avoid insolvency. Management has also won approval to ease long-standing policy and regulatory constraints, enabling a sweeping restructuring plan.
The blueprint includes phasing out remaining door-to-door delivery in favour of community mailboxes, closing rural and underused post offices, trimming retail outlets, and adjusting delivery standards. These network changes are expected to drive much of the workforce reduction over the next decade. Canada Post has already announced a timetable for ending residential home delivery and shifting to centralised boxes. At its annual public meeting in late 2025, executives acknowledged the corporation was effectively insolvent, and therefore, the transformation plan was urgently required.
The changes aim to restore financial sustainability, modernise operations, and make the national postal service self-sufficient.