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For the latest official news on the current CUPW / Canada Post negotiations and strike news, visit the Canada Post Official Strike Negotiation Updates on the Canada Post website.
Canada Post and CUPW are still negotiating the collective agreement for the 55,000 workers who process, sort, and deliver mail to all Canadians.
The original strike was called on November 15, 2024, but was suspended ten days before Christmas. Unions were given the ability to resume the strike as early as May 22nd if a new agreement had not been reached.
To date, that has not happened, but the union has announced plans to strike on May 23rd, 2025.
Canada Post presented a new offer on May 21st, and the union is requesting to take up to two weeks to review the proposal, possibly pushing back the announced strike until then if Canada Post agrees to that, as they could also issue a lockout. As seen, there are many complex scenarios that could play out.
For specific questions about what is going on, we recommend you connect with your Canada Post rep.
This dynamically changing situation is causing grief and frustration for our clients and all Canadians. At this time, we have all the same information as the public.
Because we are cautiously optimistic about a swift resolution to any strike action, we are moving forward with business as usual at this time. However, we recommend caution with the induction of your direct mail campaigns before having more concrete information from CUPW on their strike actions.
If you induct your direct mail campaign before the strike and it gets trapped, it will have a lower priority to be delivered once services resume. The rationale is that what is late can not be made un-late, and what is still possible to be delivered within the delivery standards should be.
Once we know a specific date for a strike, we recommend not inducting if your campaign will not deliver in time. Wait until it is over, and get your campaign to the depots on the 1st day possible.
After the first strike ended, we saw Neigbourhood Mail campaigns deliver incredibly quickly, often faster than delivery standards.
Your campaigns can be prepared all the way through production so they are ready to induct. We can store campaigns of any size and will have additional trucks available to deliver to Canada Post on the 1st day services resume.
We can also prepare your design and proofs incase you have time sensitive offers or content on your mailer. Talk to your CSR or salesperson about your current or upcoming campaigns for their recommendations based on your particular needs.
Good question. With the turmoil around Canada Post and delivery right now, I would expect some companies to abandon their Direct Mail strategies for the quarter, or worse, the remainder of the year.
That will create a better opportunity for those marketers who maintain usage in the Direct Mail channel. Less clutter means more attention for your marketing message. That alone should be reason enough to keep mailing after the disruption.
Direct Mail is already an underutilized marketing channel in Canada, with the average household receiving approximatly 30-45 pieces of addressed marketing mail/year – less than 1/week. How many “personalized” emails did you receive just yesterday?
I’m confident most marketers would jump at a channel that had such few competitors, a fixed “cost/impression”, and strong ROI. Throw in a tactile experience with personalized content, and it is easy to see why other countries are seeing increasing Direct Mail volumes.
So my opinion is YES, Direct Mail is still an excellent idea for marketing.
