Canada Post and union reach deal in principle to end strike

Canada Post and the union representing some 55,000 postal workers have reached a tentative deal to end a strike which has disrupted mail deliveries across the country.

The details of the deal were not released, but the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said all parties “have agreed on the main points” and strike action had been suspended.

“We need to agree on the contractual language that will form the collective agreements that would be put to a vote by the members,” the union said, adding that it will “retain the right to strike”.

A nationwide mail strike began on 25 September, before switching to a rolling strike amid an ongoing dispute over postal worker’s pay and benefits.

Canada Post also confirmed that a deal had been reached, pending a union vote, saying: “While this is being done, it has been agreed that all strike or lockout activities are suspended.”

The union and the postal service have been negotiating for nearly two years.

In September, the strike was launched hours after the federal government announced it was authorising significant changes at Canada Post.

The proposed new measures included ending door-to-door mail delivery to about four million homes, allowing non-urgent letter mail to be moved by ground instead of air, shutting some formerly rural post offices, and giving the service more flexibility to raise prices.

The government argues that the changes are necessary to stop Canada Post from losing so much money. Canada Post lost C$1bn ($717; £535m) last year and is on track to lose C$1.5bn this year, according to government figures.

The Canadian postal service – like the UK’s Royal Mail and the United States Postal Service – has seen sharp declines in letter mail delivery over the past decades and subsequent financial shortfalls.

Its three primary revenue streams – letter mail, direct-marketing mail and parcel mail – are all in decline, either through lack of demand or through stiff competition from other courier services.

Previously postal workers went on strike in November 2024 over pay and working conditions.

Last December, ahead of the busy holiday season, the Canadian government ordered the postal workers back to work.