Ending door-to-door mail delivery in Canada. What other countries have considered it?

Canada Post needs to end door-to-door mail delivery, according to a recent report by the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC). The seismic shift is one of the key tactics the post office can undertake to modernize, while maintaining solvency without being heavily subsidized by the taxpayer, writes the Commission. The recommendation comes as the union representing Canada Post workers threatens to go on strike at the end of this week. Is this a new consideration for Canada? It’s not the first time the end of door-to-door mail delivery has been considered in Canada. Canada Post announced back in 2013 that it would be phasing out door-to-door delivery of regular mail to urban residents. Back then it cited financial losses due to declining mail volume and increased online/digital communication. Two-thirds of Canadians were already receiving mail through alternative means, such as rural mailboxes, group mailboxes, or centralized postal service points. Ultimately, the plan was to end all urban door-to-door mail service to five million Canadians within five years, replacing it with community mailboxes. The transition began in 2014. The first phase affected about 74,000 addresses in ten communities , including Winnipeg, Calgary, the Ottawa suburb of Kanata and several northern suburbs in Montreal. But the plan came to an abrupt end due to public outcry and political pressure . Seniors and disabled people who relied on the service argued that having to trek to community mailboxes would create hardship. Postal workers protested potential job losses. Then the federal opposition parties campaigned against the Harper government’s decision to overhaul the service during the 2015 election. When the Liberals won, the Trudeau government halted the plan , suspending the shift to community mailboxes. Meanwhile, the recent IIC report also recommended the end of moratoriums on rural post office closures and community mailbox conversions. The moratoriums were adopted by the federal government in 1994 and prevented Canada Post from closing or franchising nearly 3,600 rural post offices. What country has taken the lead in eliminating letter delivery? Denmark is the only country, at present, with firm plans to stop door-to-door postal delivery of letters. Denmark’s state-run postal service, PostNord , has announced it will stop delivering letters entirely by the end of 2025, terminating a 400-year tradition. It will include the removal of all post boxes and the cessation of all letter deliveries, meaning there will be no door-to-door postal delivery of letters anywhere in the country. As digital mail services became established, the use of letters fell dramatically in Denmark , says PostNord. Letter numbers have fallen from 1.4 billion in 2000 to 110 million last year. Public services send communications via a Digital Post app or other platforms. Bank statements, bills, and correspondence from local authorities are sent electronically, says PostNord, making the letter market unprofitable. So, instead, PostNord is switching its focus to parcel deliveries. It means 1,500 workers out of a workforce of 4,600 face losing their jobs. What is the U.S. doing to increase post office efficiency? The U.S. considered the end of door-to-door delivery around the same time that Canada started to ponder it, the Associated Press reported back in 2013. But the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to deliver mail directly to homes in places where this service is feasible and well-established. However, more centralized delivery is increasing, mainly through the use of cluster box units or curbside mailboxes in new developments. These centralized mailboxes serve multiple residences and are designed to reduce delivery costs and improve efficiency. Meanwhile, the USPS is refining its service standards and delivery operations to improve efficiency and reduce cost. That includes allowing postal carriers to travel greater distances and consolidating processing centres, but these changes have not equated to ending door-to-door delivery completely. Have there been other international postal disruptions? Some countries (e.g., Afghanistan, Libya, Russia, Sudan, Yemen) have experienced temporary suspensions of international mail delivery due to transportation or security issues, but these instances have not resulted in permanent policy changes regarding domestic door-to-door service. How has the rise of courier competition affected postal service? A principal source of post office competition comes from private courier companies, which deliver packages directly to homes or centralized locations. In the U.K., the Royal Mail is drawing attention to the courier option as a potentially better means for package delivery abroad, while also promoting a new service to send British-themed gift boxes that include a range of popular food items.

• Canada Post strike: What happens to the parcels already accepted?
• Canada Post unveils new community mailboxes as post office gets ready to halt door-to-door delivery

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