OttawaThe federal government wants Canada Post to end home mail delivery as it tries to fix the Crown corporation’s finances. In one eastern Ontario town, that’s not going down well.’We all definitely depend on it,’ says Calabogie-area residentNathan Fung · CBC News · Posted: Sep 27, 2025 1:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoCBC spoke to people in Calabogie, Ont., west of Ottawa, about the federal government’s announcement, with several saying they still depend on door-to-door delivery from Canada Post. (David Donnelly/CBC)People in rural eastern Ontario are coming to grips with the potential end of door-to-door mail delivery.On Thursday, the federal government announced it wants Canada Post to end home delivery as it tries to fix the Crown corporation’s finances.The announcement comes as Canada Post is on track to lose $1.5 billion in 2025 The plan would be to convert the four million addresses that still receive the service to community mailboxes. “We all definitely depend on it,” said Cecilia Miller, who lives just outside Calabogie, Ont., west of Ottawa.Miller said she’s “not too happy” about the news and worries what she could end up falling behind on her bills.”[It] takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to get [to the post office] so it wouldn’t be fun to have to come in here every day to get my mail.” she said.Declining mail volumesIn May, a report by industrial inquiry commissioner William Kaplan found that Canada Post letter deliveries shrank from 5.5 billion letters a year to 2.2 billion between 2006 and 2023.The report said Canada Post’s infrastructure and staff were designed to deliver 5.5 billion letters a year and the corporation “cannot be sustained with a volume of less than half that.”Teresa Nickus lives in Calabogie and said physical mail is still important — even if a lot of it has moved online.”There’s important things that have to come in your mail: bills, unfortunately, or just, you know, important documents [and] statements,” she said.”I think that’s important to have documentation through the mail. And a lot of people that are older, we … don’t have everything on our technology.”Nickus also said that people are used to dealing with a postmaster, and that that personal touch could disappear if community mailboxes are put in place.”I know the lady inside there. It’s nice to have the one-on-one communication … we want to keep that alive.”Striking Canada Post workers are seen on the picket line outside a Canada Post depot in Ottawa on Friday. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)Postal strike continuesMeanwhile, post office workers remain on strike, with their union calling the government directive “an attack on our postal service.”Suzanne Plummer, a letter carrier who was on the picket line Friday in Ottawa, said she’s worried about her future employment, as Canada Post hasn’t been filling full-time jobs as carriers retire but rather replacing them with casual employees.”When they implement whatever it is the government is suggesting they implement — with the community mailboxes and reducing mail delivery during the week — I am at the bottom of the list,” she said.The government has given Canada Post 45 days to come up with a plan to make the changes. ABOUT THE AUTHORNathan Fung is a reporter with CBC Ottawa, with a strong interest in covering municipal issues. He has previously worked as a reporter in Hamilton and Edmonton. You can reach him at nathan.fung@cbc.caWith files from David Fraser and Radio-Canada’s Frédéric Pepin
Rural eastern Ontarians worried about losing home mail delivery
