Canada Post to do away with home delivery

Canada Post is planning to change Canada’s postal system from home delivery to what are known as “community mailboxes” — metal, multi-slot structures already in use at the ends of many suburban streets. Under the plan, which Canada Post says it will implement over the next five years, everyone in Canada will get a mail key, and will have to walk a little farther to collect each day’s post.

Cost-cutting

Eliminating home delivery is just one of several cost-saving measures announced by Canada Post.  The crown corporation, beleaguered by competition from the internet, hopes to eliminate between 6,000 and 8,000 workers, mostly through attrition. And, controverially, it is also raising the cost of stamps.  From March 1, 2014, the price of a single rolled variety stamp will increase 35 per cent to 85 cents.

Canada Post, owned by the Canadian Government, shares many problems with postal services in the United States and elsewhere, including rapidly declining mail volumes and high wage and pension costs.