Ottawa lending $1B to cash-strapped Canada Post


The federal government will loan Canada Post $1 billion for the 2025-26 fiscal year so it can continue operating while facing “significant financial challenges,” the postal service said Friday.

Canada Post says Ottawa is making repayable funds available within the regulations of the Canada Post Corporation Act, but that the money (totalling $1.034 billion) offers only a temporary financial boost and will not solve the structural problems of the Crown corporation.

The postal service is working with the government “on a plan to ensure the long-term viability of a service that millions of Canadians consider essential,” it said in a news release.

Canada Post has lost $3 billion since 2018, with letter delivery in decline and larger competitors eating into its parcel market share. The postal service also blames part of its losses on “high labor costs and legacy regulatory measures.”

Public Services and Procurement Canada says the money will be provided as needed to pay non-discretionary obligations.

Canada Post warned in its 2023 annual report that without “additional borrowing and refinancing,” it would run out of money in the second quarter of 2025. It recently raised stamp prices by 25 per cent.

Its operations were temporarily suspended last fall when the Canadian Postal Workers Union, which represents its postal workers, went on strike until the federal government intervened to end the labor dispute.



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