Canada Post says it is “transforming” its information technology model by selling off its IT department to focus on e-commerce and digital delivery services.Last week the country’s venerable — and original — Crown corporation said that it has reached an agreement to ‘transition’ its IT shared-service provider Innovapost to Deloitte Canada for an undisclosed sum.Critics say its to cover mounting losses that reached $290 million in the third quarter of last year as snail mail deliveries plummet to record lows. That’s on top of the $500 million it lost in 2022.In a news release, Canada Post said the move would free up resources to “better deliver the digitally enabled products and services Canadians need, while ensuring the postal service continues to be a vital economic link for the entire country.”.As part of the agreement, Deloitte will deliver and support Canada Post’s day-to-day IT operations while the latter refocuses on parcel delivery. As part of the deal, Canada Post will retain an in-house leadership team while Innovapost’s 750 employees with be transferred to Deloitte.Financial terms and closing dates were not disclosed.“It was determined the current shared-service model was not providing the speed and agility needed to compete today and in the future,” it said.With e-commerce set to double in Canada over the next decade, powerful IT is essential for the retail economy and for Canada Post. The changes announced today will help Canada Post better deliver the digitally enabled products and services Canadians need, while ensuring the postal service continues to be a vital economic link for the entire country.It comes almost a week after Canada Post sold off its third party logistics group, SCI Inc to Montreal-based Metro Supply Chain for an undisclosed sum. It operates from 75 locations and employs 3,000 people..It all adds up to a major restructuring for Canada Post, which is facing stiff competition from the likes of Amazon. The company has also been partnering with companies such as TD to offer products such as ‘postal banking’ in remote communities underserved by traditional bank branches.But analysts said that means Canada Post would have to reduce its cost structure and refocus on its core business. In September it opened a new processing facility in the Toronto area capable of processing more than one million packages per day, which critics say is too little, too late.Meanwhile it’s stuck with a geographically sprawling legacy business and uncompetitive labour contracts with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which has more than 60,000 members and has been pressuring the company to increase services.In its statement, Canada Post said its operations are funded by revenue generated by the sale of its products and services, not taxpayer dollars — although the way it generates those dollars is tightly controlled by Parliament.“Today is the start of an exciting journey to transform Canada Post’s information technology model so that we can better meet the demands of our customers, particularly in the competitive parcel market,” said President and CEO Doug Ettinger.“This change not only enhances our strategic focus, it also ensures we have the world-class expertise in place to deliver results for Canadians.”
Canada Post says it is “transforming” its information technology model by selling off its IT department to focus on e-commerce and digital delivery services.Last week the country’s venerable — and original — Crown corporation said that it has reached an agreement to ‘transition’ its IT shared-service provider Innovapost to Deloitte Canada for an undisclosed sum.Critics say its to cover mounting losses that reached $290 million in the third quarter of last year as snail mail deliveries plummet to record lows. That’s on top of the $500 million it lost in 2022.In a news release, Canada Post said the move would free up resources to “better deliver the digitally enabled products and services Canadians need, while ensuring the postal service continues to be a vital economic link for the entire country.”.As part of the agreement, Deloitte will deliver and support Canada Post’s day-to-day IT operations while the latter refocuses on parcel delivery. As part of the deal, Canada Post will retain an in-house leadership team while Innovapost’s 750 employees with be transferred to Deloitte.Financial terms and closing dates were not disclosed.“It was determined the current shared-service model was not providing the speed and agility needed to compete today and in the future,” it said.With e-commerce set to double in Canada over the next decade, powerful IT is essential for the retail economy and for Canada Post. The changes announced today will help Canada Post better deliver the digitally enabled products and services Canadians need, while ensuring the postal service continues to be a vital economic link for the entire country.It comes almost a week after Canada Post sold off its third party logistics group, SCI Inc to Montreal-based Metro Supply Chain for an undisclosed sum. It operates from 75 locations and employs 3,000 people..It all adds up to a major restructuring for Canada Post, which is facing stiff competition from the likes of Amazon. The company has also been partnering with companies such as TD to offer products such as ‘postal banking’ in remote communities underserved by traditional bank branches.But analysts said that means Canada Post would have to reduce its cost structure and refocus on its core business. In September it opened a new processing facility in the Toronto area capable of processing more than one million packages per day, which critics say is too little, too late.Meanwhile it’s stuck with a geographically sprawling legacy business and uncompetitive labour contracts with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which has more than 60,000 members and has been pressuring the company to increase services.In its statement, Canada Post said its operations are funded by revenue generated by the sale of its products and services, not taxpayer dollars — although the way it generates those dollars is tightly controlled by Parliament.“Today is the start of an exciting journey to transform Canada Post’s information technology model so that we can better meet the demands of our customers, particularly in the competitive parcel market,” said President and CEO Doug Ettinger.“This change not only enhances our strategic focus, it also ensures we have the world-class expertise in place to deliver results for Canadians.”
