IndigenousPeople in remote Indigenous communities that rely on Canada Post for essential items say they are the hardest hit when labour disputes affect services.’Everything is in limbo,’ says Norway House Cree Nation residentCandace Maracle · CBC News · Posted: Oct 03, 2025 3:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 3The post office in Iqaluit. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami says Inuit are disproportionately affected by strikes as Canada Post is the only provider of mail and parcel delivery to Inuit communities. (Matisse Harvey/Radio Canada)People in remote Indigenous communities that rely on Canada Post for essential items say they are the hardest hit when labour disputes affect services.National Inuit advocacy organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has called for a quick resolution to the strike that began last week, “to limit the disproportionate consequences Inuit are facing,” according to a post on social media.”Canada Post is a lifeline to each of the four regions of Inuit Nunangat.” The union representing Canada’s postal workers called a nationwide strike last Thursday, hours after the federal government announced major reforms to Canada Post, allowing the Crown corporation to end home delivery and close some rural mail outlets.On Friday, Canada Post made a new offer to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers; a statement published on the union’s website said negotiators said the offer will be reviewed and provided to members as soon as possible.Alaana Sowdluapik, who is Inuk from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, said all 25 communities in Nunavut are affected by the strike as Canada Post is their only postal service.”We rely on Canada Post a lot to receive our essentials like cheques, prescription medication, vehicle parts, identification like passports and driver’s licence,” Sowdluapik said.”We can’t just go to a hardware store and get vehicle parts. We have to order them online.”Ahead of the winter season and Christmas, Sowdluapik said she’s seen lower quantities in stores already while the strike has only started its second week.Alaana Sowdluapik lives in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. (Submitted by Alaana Sowdluapik)She said items can be harder to find and are much more expensive to buy up North than they are online. Sowdluapik said the strike has also impacted small Inuit-owned businesses because they rely on Canada Post for shipping their goods.Parcel stuck in ThompsonJanice Muswagon from Norway House Cree Nation, about 900 kilometres north of Winnipeg, said Thompson, Man., is the nearest warehouse for couriers like FedEx and UPS, where Canada Post then picks up the parcels and delivers them to Norway House.”A lot of us can’t leave town. Not everybody in the community … has a vehicle that can go out of town anytime to go Christmas shopping or go buy stuff,” Muswagon said. There are no flights or buses between Norway House and Thompson, which is 300 kilometres away by road. And even if Muswagon could get to the warehouse, Canada Post is not releasing any parcels until the strike is over.”Everything is in limbo,” Muswagon said, including the iPad she bought for her grandson’s birthday that she’d been tracking until the strike.Muswagon said even with the taxes and shipping, the iPad she ordered still cost less than half of what she would have paid purchasing it up North.ABOUT THE AUTHORCandace Maracle is Wolf Clan from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a laureate of The Hnatyshyn Foundation REVEAL Indigenous Art Award. Her latest short film, “Tsi ní:yoht yonkwayentá:’on ne óhses” (How We Got Maple Syrup) is completely in the Kanien’kéha language.
For remote Indigenous communities, Canada Post is a ‘lifeline’
