Canada Post Announces Largest Single-Quarter Loss of $407M

Canada Post signage and parked vehicles are seen at a Canada Post mail sorting facility during a nationwide strike action in Ottawa, on Nov. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Canada Post has reported a second-quarter loss of $407 million for 2025, marking the largest quarterly loss the struggling Crown corporation has announced to date.

The before-tax loss was the result of a 37 percent drop in parcel revenue and volumes, Canada Post said an Aug. 26 statement, a situation it attributed to customer uncertainty as extended contract discussions continue with its union.

There was an increase in “transaction mail” such as bills and other notifications in the second quarter as a result of one-time federal election mailings, but parcel delivery declined, Canada Post said.

Parcel revenue fell $288 million with 25 million fewer packages delivered in the second quarter, a more than 36 percent decline compared to the same period last year, the agency said, noting that overall parcel revenue has dipped by $482 million since the beginning of the year.

“Parcels results declined sharply as the strike activity and labour uncertainty drove customers to other carriers for their deliveries,” Canada Post said.

“Revenue fell significantly compared to the previous-year periods as the strike activity and general labour uncertainty impacted all channels (domestic, inbound and outbound) by driving parcel volumes to competitors that could offer delivery stability.”

In the second quarter and the first half of 2025, Canada Post experienced a decline in total revenue amounting to $145 million, which represents a decrease of 7.3 percent, and a reduction of $103 million, or 1.5 percent, respectively, when compared to the corresponding periods of the previous year.

The agency’s financial woes have been an issue for nearly seven years. The postal service has lost $4.2 billion before taxes between 2018 and the second quarter of this year, with cumulative losses from operations of more than $5 billion, according to its latest financial statement.

Contract Negotiations

Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been at an impasse in their contract negotiations for more than 18 months, leading to a month-long strike at the end of last year during the busy holiday delivery season.

Negotiations between the two parties experienced additional delays this week. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers reported that the Crown agency postponed an Aug. 25 meeting, citing the need for more time to assess the union’s most recent offer.

The latest union proposal features salary increments of 9 percent during the initial year of the contract, and 4 percent in the subsequent year, with increases of 3 percent in both the third and fourth years. The union’s most recent proposal for its urban division also includes clauses for the inclusion of part-time staff and weekend parcel delivery, subject to specific limitations.

The proposal represents an increase from the approximately 13 percent over four years that was part of Canada Post’s latest offers from late May.

Unionized workers rejected those offers in a direct vote earlier this summer. The union said the offer failed to satisfy the requirements of its members and declared its intention to uphold its national ban on overtime.

The union issued a statement addressing Canada Post’s dismal quarterly report, saying the Crown agency should have raised its stamp rates earlier. Canada Post implemented a 25 percent increase in January. It also found fault with the agency blaming “labour uncertainty” for lost businesses.

“Canada Post continues to pin the blame for its financial performance on its workers,” the union said. “For the Corporation, ‘labour uncertainty’ was the primary cause of its losses this quarter. But Canada Post is the one that cancelled the last two meetings.”

The financial challenges of the Crown corporation have been a major issue as the talks between the two parties persist.

A federal report by Commissioner William Kaplan released this spring noted that Canada Post is “effectively insolvent, or bankrupt.”

Kaplan proposed a shift toward package delivery, alongside the closure of rural post offices and an increase in community mailboxes—changes that would reverse a long-standing moratorium on both and extend beyond the collective bargaining parameters. It also recommended ending daily door-to-door letter mail delivery for homes but maintaining it for businesses, as well as dynamic routing and part-time positions that offer compensation similar to that of full-time positions.

“Canada Post is facing an existential crisis,” Kaplan said in his report. “Without thoughtful, measured, staged, but immediate changes, its fiscal situation will continue to deteriorate.”