While Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers try to find their way back to the negotiating table, the impact of their standoff continues to ripple across the country. With the holidays fast approaching, the number of parcels that remain unprocessed continues to grow, leaving their anxious owners waiting for some sort of holiday miracle — preferably one that involves packages arriving before the big day.

How many parcels are stuck in the backlog?

The strike has exacerbated Canada Post’s existing parcel backlog. Early estimates indicated 10 million items were delayed but that number has now ballooned to 12 million, according to the Crown corporation’s latest update. This includes packages, letters, and promotional mail, much of it linked to the bustling holiday season.

Where are these packages sitting?

Most undelivered items are being stored at Canada Post’s 13 major distribution centres, the majority of which are located in the urban hubs of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal. Mailboxes across the country are reportedly being cleared and emptied of letters and smaller parcels, which are then rerouted to these centralized facilities to await processing.

How much money is Canada Post losing?

The financial toll on the Crown corporation is substantial, with an estimated revenue loss to date of $100 million, primarily due to unprocessed packages and cancelled shipping orders. Businesses and individual customers have increasingly turned to other couriers like FedEx, United Parcel Service Inc. and Purolator to ensure timely delivery, further cutting into Canada Post’s revenue.

What has the effect been on other courier companies?

Courier companies are feeling the strain. Purolator, a Canada Post subsidiary, expects to handle more than 43 million packages during the peak season, including more than 25 million in the month leading up to Christmas. To manage the overwhelming influx of packages, Purolator temporarily stopped accepting new shipments in early December to avoid further strain on its distribution network. Purolator said in an email that severe weather and a surge in package volumes led to the decision to freeze service for some partners and prioritize “critical shipments.”

Meanwhile, small businesses that depend on reliable shipping continue to struggle. Pop Music, an independent record store in Toronto, issued a statement to its customers warning of nationwide restrictions on courier services, stating, “There’s major delays with getting orders out this week due to blackouts with Purolator and UPS. We can’t even print labels!”

What’s being held up?

The backlog isn’t just about holiday gifts. Canadians are sharing stories of urgent undelivered items of a particularly personal or financially critical nature, including:

• A bride-to-be in Winnipeg awaiting her custom wedding dress.
• A family in Montreal unable to retrieve a deceased relative’s ashes.
• Charities like the Scott Mission and Toronto Humane Society, which rely on up to 70 per cent of donations via mail, are seeing a drop in fundraising, jeopardizing their seasonal goals.

For these customers, the delays are more than an inconvenience.

What happens next?

Until their recent pause, negotiations between Canada Post and the union were reportedly fraught with tension. Even if a deal is reached soon, Canada Post estimates it could take six to eight weeks to clear the current backlog. That timeline could extend further if weather or technical issues disrupt operations during the recovery period.

The ongoing strike is symptomatic of deeper issues within Canada Post, some of which have been years in the making and have carried over from past labour disputes. Canada Post has stressed the need to modernize its services and operations in order to offset declining revenues from traditional mail and offer weekend delivery options for its customers.

• Email: shcampbell@postmedia.com

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