The increase impacts letter and transaction mail only – not marketing mail – and is subject to regulatory approval from the Trudeau government. A similar increase in prices for marketing mail was introduced earlier this year. 

In its official communication, Canada Post claims these increases are necessary as it’s “… been steadily impacted by inflation. This is combined with the fact that each year we deliver to more addresses.” (We think having more users would help reduce costs, but apparently not for Canada Post.)

Canada Post’s mail volumes have been in decline for years, attributable to reliability issues arising from labour disputes, continual price increases, and digitization opportunities that have been widely embraced by its customers. The corporation is burdened by legacy labour agreements, huge pension commitments, and fixed costs that are outsized relative to current volumes. Parcel volume, on the other hand, has been growing thanks to e-commerce. 

The good news is that Cleanlist can help mailers offset these high postage costs by improving their data quality. Its service screens letter batches in real-time, looking for invalid and out-dated addresses before going to print. Letters with invalid addresses are either fixed or dropped, saving mailers as much as 25% on their postage bills. Contact Cleanlist to learn more about how this service can help you save on postage.