The Trudeau government is preparing a major overhaul of Canada Post that could go far beyond the service cuts already announced last month. Blacklock's Reporter says Public Works Minister Joel Lightbound told MPs in a letter that cabinet is reviewing the entire structure and mandate of the Crown corporation, including its decades-old service Charter.“The government will examine additional governance and structural reforms including the Canadian Postal Service Charter, Canada Post’s legislated mandate, its regulatory framework and its funding model including for rural post offices,” Lightbound wrote to the Commons government operations committee.The 2009 Charter guarantees “fair and reasonable” postage rates, delivery five days a week to every address except remote ones, and access to a retail outlet within 2.5 kilometres of most homes. Those promises are now on the table.Lightbound described the recent wave of service reductions — ending daily home delivery, expanding mandatory community mailboxes, an allowing rural post office closures — as only “the first wave of reforms.” .He said Canada Post management has until November 9 to propose further cuts and cost-saving measures “to place the corporation on the path to financial sustainability.”“We cannot go on footing the bill day after day, year after year, with increasing deficits,” Lightbound told reporters in September. Canada Post posted an $841 million pre-tax loss in 2024 and is projected to lose nearly $1.5 billion this year.The minister’s comments followed weeks of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which has accused Ottawa of gutting a vital public service that many rural Canadians depend on.A Commons committee report released June 20 urged the government to consider new revenue streams like postal banking instead of further downsizing. .“The postal service is a public asset that Canadians, especially those living in rural and remote communities, cannot afford to lose,” MPs wrote.Despite that warning, Lightbound’s letter suggests cabinet is determined to shrink Canada Post’s footprint and redefine its core mandate. “There is a clear need to make operations more efficient, particularly in rural areas,” he said, adding that “transforming an organization of this size and scale will take time.”
