Canada Post says it will require yet another bailout by early 2026 as the Crown corporation’s financial crisis deepens, despite beginning the year with a $1.03-billion federal loan intended to sustain operations through March 2026.
In its quarterly report released Friday, the postal service revealed it has already burned through nearly all of that funding and expects the loan to be “fully utilized” by December 31, pushed into further distress by ongoing labour disruptions and intensifying competition in the parcel delivery market.
The corporation reported a staggering $541 million loss before taxes in the third quarter — the worst quarterly loss in its history and a 72 per cent jump from the $315 million lost in the same period last year. “Canada Post’s financial situation continued to deteriorate in the third quarter,” the report said, noting that prolonged strike activity among its 55,000 mail carriers has driven customers to competing courier services.
Parcel revenue, once Canada Post’s most profitable division, plunged 40 per cent to $450 million due to a drop of 27 million parcels. For the first time in years, parcel revenues fell below traditional letter-mail revenues — a sector that has been in steady decline for nearly two decades.
“The company is facing the most severe and challenging financial situation in its history,” the report warned. Losses have now exceeded $5.5 billion since 2018, intensifying scrutiny over the viability of Canada Post’s business model as Canadians send fewer letters and rely more heavily on private courier companies.
Meanwhile, the bargaining impasse with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has stretched beyond two years, with rotating strikes disrupting service at the onset of the busy holiday season.
At the corporation’s annual meeting earlier this week, CEO Doug Ettinger predicted Canada Post could lose up to 30,000 employees over the next decade through retirements and resignations as it attempts to reduce costs and modernize its operations.
Federal Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced reforms in September aimed at helping Canada Post reinvent its model — including more flexible delivery standards, expanded use of community mailboxes and potential closures of some rural post offices.
Canada Post has since submitted a formal transformation plan to Ottawa, though details remain confidential while the government reviews the proposal.
The corporation said it has lost $989 million in the first nine months of 2025 — nearly triple the $345 million lost in the same period last year — largely due to the financial shock from strike-related uncertainty.