Canada Post to Phase Out Home Delivery, Raise Postage

OTTAWA—Canada Post has unveiled a five-point action plan designed to help the agency save as much as C$900 million per year and regain financial stability by 2019. As part of the plan, home delivery will be phased out and the cost of postage stamps will increase at least 35 percent.

The overall plan will result in the reduction of between 6,000 and 8,000 positions, mainly through attrition, Canada Post said in a release.

Only about one-third of all Canadians receive mail delivery to their door, which covers about 5.1 million residents. The other two-thirds retrieve it via a central location—community or rural mailboxes or apartment lobbies.

A tiered pricing structure will see the cost of stamps, which are mainly purchased by Canadians in booklets or coils, increase to 85 cents per stamp, with discounts for customers that use mail the most. Customers who buy one stamp at a time, which represents about 2 percent of stamp purchases, will pay $1 per stamp. The price changes take effect March 31.