Canada Post has wound up its pioneering electronic document sharing service. The ePost system launched decades ago was overtaken by Google Drive and other services, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“Since ePost launched the way businesses connect and communicate with their customers has evolved significantly,” the post office said in a statement. “Other companies are now better suited to meet Canadians’ changing needs.”.The Crown corporation did not detail net costs or revenues of the program. All accounts were closed December 31..Canada Post launched the service November 26, 1999 and claimed as many as 800,000 new customers by 2012. The ePost program was intended as an alternative to letter mail for banks, utilities and other commercial customers to forward invoices and other documents..But the program required users to complete a multi-step process to retrieve documents, including registration at a Canada Post website, retrieval of user names and passwords, and email alerts whenever the documents were transmitted..Jacques Côté, then-chief financial officer of Canada Post, acknowledged early difficulties with the program at 2004 hearings of the House of Commons government operations committee. “We’re still working on it,” said Côté..“There is no doubt in my mind that one day down the road people are going to receive their mail electronically,” said Côté. “It makes sense. It’s faster, cheaper and so on. But the building of the market, the density in the mailbox and value-added services at the mailbox that make it worth your while to go there every week to see if you’ve got mail are going to take a little time.”.“Canada Post or somebody else will find a solution,” said Côté. “We believe we’ve got the right model. It takes a while but eventually it is going to go up. We still think that’s a winning business model. We’re still committed to it.”.MPs at parliamentary hearings questioned the program. “You’ve gotten into email, and my question is, why?” then-Canadian Alliance MP Ken Epp (Elk Island, AB) asked a 2003 hearing of the House of Commons government operations committee. “Every provider of internet services has email accounts. I’ve never needed Canada Post in order to send and receive email.”.“I don’t find it very good,” then-Liberal MP Alex Shepherd (Durham, ON) told a 2004 hearing. “Nobody wants to be part of it.”.“I’ve been one of those people who got onto it, experimented and played with it, but nothing seems to be happening there,” said Shepherd. “That’s my perception. You went to a certain point, got so many subscribers, but even for my own personal things I don’t find it very good.”.Canada Post management had defended the program as a revenue source to offset declines in hand-delivered mail. “It does not matter which way you look at it, the letter business is a declining business,” Moya Green, then-CEO of Canada Post, testified at 2010 hearings of the Senate national finance committee..“In a declining business you have to do other things,” said Green. “You must also grow the business. If you do not grow the business in a new direction the business will die.”
