Canada Post Union to Lift Overtime Ban, End Flyer Delivery

A Canada Post worker arrives for work in Montreal on Dec.17, 2024. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says it will lift its overtime ban and will instead halt its members’ distribution of commercial flyers.

CUPW president Jan Simpson said the commercial flyer ban would take effect on Sept. 15 at 12:01 a.m. local time, and called on Canada Post to return to the bargaining table to resolve the contract dispute that has been dragging on for more than 18 months.

“Canada Post needs to get back to the table, and we want to do our best to have the least impact on the Canadian public,” she said during a Sept. 12 news conference in Ottawa.

Canada Post workers have been banned from working overtime since late May as the union negotiates with the Crown corporation on a new contract.

Canada Post said it was disappointed in the union’s decision.

“This decision will impact the thousands of Canadian businesses that reach their customers with information and offers through the mail,” the agency said in a Sept. 12 statement, noting that the move would also impact postal workers who receive extra pay to deliver flyers.

The statement asks CUPW to return to contract negotiations with “workable solutions.”

Union members rejected Canada Post’s most recent offer in August. The union has since submitted a proposal that requests increased wages while also accommodating part-time employees.

CUPW proposed salary increases of 9 percent during the first year of the contract, and 4 percent in the subsequent year. It also included increases of 3 and 4 percent in the third and fourth years, as well as clauses for part-time staff and weekend parcel delivery for its urban division.

The proposal was an increase from the 13 percent over four years that Canada Post offered in May. That offer was rejected in a vote by union members.

Canada Post responded to the proposal by urging the union to “revisit its offers to align with the realities confronting the company.”

The Crown corporation reported a before-tax loss of $407 million in the second quarter of 2025. It noted a 37 percent drop in parcels business in response to the labour uncertainty.

CUPW said Canada Post should have raised its stamp rates earlier, and rejected the idea that the Crown corporation’s financial problems should be blamed on workers.

A federal report by an industrial inquiry commission released earlier this year said Canada Post is “effectively insolvent, or bankrupt.”

Commissioner William Kaplan recommended it shift toward package delivery, close some rural post offices, and increase community mailboxes. The report suggested ending door-to-door letter mail delivery for homes, but maintaining the service for businesses. It also advised Canada Post to move toward dynamic routing and part-time positions with compensation similar to full-time positions.

Kaplan wrote that the Crown corporation is facing an “existential crisis” adding its fiscal situation would continue to deteriorate without “thoughtful, measured, staged, but immediate changes.”

The dispute between Canada Post and the union led to a month-long strike in late 2024, during the busiest holiday delivery season.

Canada Post said it would be open to reviewing and discussing amended proposals from the union.

The Canadian Post, Jennifer Cowan contributed to this article.