The department of Public Works anticipates the post office will eventually achieve financial self-sufficiency, but this is expected to happen in the "longer term.".According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Canada Post reported a loss of more than half a billion dollars in the previous year..“While the immediate focus must be on critical investments and improvements to meet the changing needs of Canadians and Canadian businesses, financial self-sustainability remains the corporation’s medium to longer-term goal,” said a department memo Main Estimates. It did not define “longer-term.”.“As the business shifts from mail to parcels, pressure on costs continues,” said the May 29 memo. .“The corporation is making strategic investments to improve service and tracking.”.Canada Post reported a pre-tax loss of $548 million in 2022. In the first half of 2023, losses amounted to $361 million, including a 3.3% decline in revenue compared to the previous year..“An increasingly competitive parcel delivery market continued to impact parcel revenue in both the first and second quarter of 2023,” management wrote in an August 25 financial statement. .“Transaction mail continued to erode while direct marketing declined as businesses’ marketing budgets remained under pressure.”.The post office last saw profitability in the period from 2014 to 2017. Net pre-tax revenues totalled $388 million. Subsequent losses were $276 million in 2018, $153 million in 2019, $779 million in 2020 and $490 million in 2021..In earlier Access to Information memos, federal authorities predicted losses would continue through 2026..“Canada Post projects losses increasing from $100 million to $700 million by 2026,” said a 2017 department of Finance memo Meeting of the Deputy Ministers and the Clerk to Discuss Canada Post Corporation..Estimates of $700 million in annual losses were “conservative with a risk the corporation will see even greater losses,” said Deputy Ministers. It did not elaborate..The Public Works department conducted several opinion polls to gauge public support for various measures, including raising stamp rates from 92 cents to $1.25 for interprovincial letters, reducing daily home delivery services and closing rural post offices..“Canada Post cannot close post offices in rural areas or convert them to less expensive franchises due to a temporary freeze, also called a moratorium, that was introduced by the federal government in 1994,” said a 2022 report Indigenous Peoples’ Views on Canada Post Services. .“The moratorium prevents the closure or franchising of more than 3,000 post offices.”.“This list has remained unchanged since 1994,” said the report. .“Since then, many of these protected locations have become urbanized and their populations have grown significantly.”.“Most, 84%, agree with a continued moratorium with updated definitions of ‘rural,” said Peoples’ Views. .“A smaller majority, 62%, agree with a modified moratorium where rural post offices are replaced with franchises.”
