Canada Post has removed more than 600 sidewalk mailboxes across the country this year as the Crown corporation looks for savings while posting $482 million in pre-tax losses through the first six months of 2026.Blacklock's Reporter says the corporation disclosed the mailbox removals in its Second Quarter Financial Report, describing them as part of a broader modernization effort aimed at reducing costs.“The amount of change required to support Canada Post’s modernization is significant and requires substantial collaboration with key stakeholders,” said the report.“Canada Post and the shareholder have continued to strengthen their working relationships to address and deliver several policy and regulatory changes affecting the corporation. These changes are critical.”Canada Post said it “removed over 600 street letter boxes to date in 2026 where drop-off options were already available at existing postal facilities.”The corporation did not disclose how many sidewalk mailboxes remain. Canada Post had a network of about 24,000 street letter boxes in 2019.“Reducing street furniture supports cost efficiencies by lowering acquisition and maintenance costs,” said the report.Canada Post also closed three mail depots serving Coquitlam-Port Moody and South Burnaby, B.C., and Ottawa. Operations were transferred to nearby facilities “to improve efficiency and optimize costs.”The cuts come as Canada Post continues to struggle financially.Revenue during the first six months of the year fell 7%, or $159 million, compared with the same period a year earlier.“The corporation’s ability to continue as a going concern remains dependent on access to government funding and short-term financing facilities,” management wrote..More cuts could be coming as Canada Post reviews its network of rural post offices following cabinet’s decision to lift a moratorium on rural closures that had been in place since 1994.“Canada Post is starting the retail modernization process with market reviews to gather and validate operational data of local post offices, providing the corporation with an accurate and up to date view of each location,” management said in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled June 17 in the Commons.Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger told the Commons government operations committee June 18 that no final decisions had been made on which of the corporation’s 3,361 rural outlets could be closed.“Nothing has been decided,” said Ettinger.“We are very empathetic to the rural areas and the urban areas,” he said. “We don’t want to move too quickly and surprise people. We want to get their feedback.”Ettinger acknowledged areas with several post offices located close together would likely receive scrutiny.“I mean, if there’s five little post offices within 10 kilometres, probably that’s an area we are going to be looking for, to close one or more,” he said. “But we’ll look at maybe increasing the hours in another one.”Ettinger said Canada Post had not compiled an internal list of outlets targeted for closure.“We have not made any decisions even internally on which post offices we think should stay or go,” he said. “We are working on making sure we have the right program to engage with people.”
