Canada Post makes changes

Group mailboxes in new subdivision PHOTO – PHRAWR / CC,FLICKR

Group mailboxes in new subdivision
PHOTO – PHRAWR / CC,FLICKR

Adapted from The Vancouver Sun
Level 3

Canada Post has a new business plan. The corporation needs to make more money. They will make more money in three ways.

Stamps will cost more in 2014.
A stamp costs $0.63 today. On March 31, a stamp will cost $1.00. In 2000, a stamp cost $0.46.

The cost to mail a letter in Canada is going up.

A selection of stamps. PHOTO – CANADA POST ARCHIVES

A selection of stamps
PHOTO – CANADA POST ARCHIVES

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Canada Post

Mail will not be delivered to homes.
One-third of Canadian homes get mail delivered to their door.

It will take five years to stop delivery to homes. Mail will be delivered to group mailboxes. Rural areas of the country already receive mail at group mailboxes.

Labour costs will be reduced.
Canada Post will get rid of 6,000 to 8,000 employees. This will take up to ten years.

Canada Post will not replace employees when they retire. About 15,000 employees plan to retire in the next five years.

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A history of postal services in Canada
Canada started to deliver mail in the 17th century. In 1874, door-to-door delivery started in Montreal. Door-to-door delivery of mail will stop by 2019.

17th century
Mail moved by canoe on the St. Lawrence River.

18th century
1753:  The first Canadian post office opened in Halifax.

1771:  Weekly mail service began.

19th century
Mail took ten days to get from Quebec City to Windsor, Ontario.

1857: Trains began to carry the mail. Trains took the mail from Quebec City to Windsor in forty-nine hours.

1867:  A letter stamp cost $0.03.

1874:  Door-to-door mail delivery started in Montreal.

1886:  Mail service from Halifax to Port Moody started.

20th century
1908:  Rural mail delivery started in Ontario.

1981:  Canada Post privatized and became a for-profit business.

1985:  Canada Post began using group mailboxes in new subdivisions.

1989:  Canada Post reported a profit for the first time in thirty-two years.

21st century
2000:  Canada Post started ePost, a digital mailbox for bills. A letter stamp cost $0.46.

2007: The amount of letter mail delivered began to go down. Canadians increased their use of the internet.

2013:  Canada Post lost over $200 million. A letter stamp cost $0.63

2014:  Canada Post will begin phasing-out home delivery. The cost of a letter stamp will be $1.00 starting April 1, 2014.