Get ready to pay more to mail a letter as Canada Post changes begin
By Nelson Daily Staff
Don’t look now but that $0.63 stamp used Friday by people mailing letters is now rising to $0.85 on Monday (March 31, 2014) for people who buy stamps in booklets or coils thanks to the recent changes to its operations announced by Canada Post in December 2013.
People who purchase stamps individually, the cost of mailing a letter goes up to $1.
The increase is part of a full-scale shakep up of Canada Post designed to help make up for the decline in demand for mail delivery.
The price increases are part of plan announced by Canada Post that along with stamp hikes, includes up to 8,000 job cuts through the usage of new technologies over the next five years and the end of door-to-door delivery in urban neighbourhoods.
Another change is the reduction in the number of public post offices in favour of franchise offices like the one at Shoppers Drug Mart.
Amongst the reasons for the changes stated by Canada Post in the release are a mandate to fund its operations with revenues from sales of products and services instead of becoming “a burden on taxpayers,” and a desire to provide services and products that meet the perceived needs of their clients.
In a letter to the editor in early January, Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior said the changes in service cuts will have the biggest impact on seniors and the disabled who depend on mail delivery.
“The suggestion by Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra that regular walks to community mailboxes might actually do them some good does not coincide with winter reality in communities such as Nelson and Trail, BC, with their steep hills and icy streets,” Atamanenko said.
“Canada Post has an existing infrastructure and is often the only federal presence in small communities. It does not make any sense for the government to tear it apart and make it irrelevant.
Canada Post said in its December press release the changes, once fully implemented; the initiatives will contribute an estimated $700 million to $900 million per year to the company’s bottom line.
