Canada Post is phasing out door-to-door delivery of regular mail to urban residents and increasing the cost of stamps in a major move to try to reduce significant, regular losses. The Crown corporation announced its plans in a news release today (Wednesday, December 11, 2013) saying urban home delivery will be phased out over the next five years. It will surprise some that only one-third of all homes continue to receive door-to-door delivery. Rural and condominium-like buildings already have community mailboxes. It seems likely however that condo and apartment dwellers will also find themselves trekking to a large community mail centres along with homeowners, The decision comes with many unanswered questions. Although the community boxes are said to be secure and individualized to each user, there is no information as to how convenient they may be. Residents of lower South Bayview will know how inaccessible is the postal office serving Moore Park and north Rosedale. Fetching undelivered registered mail requires a fight through traffic to Yonge and St. Clair, paid parking and long walks the basement outlet. And how will the elderly cope? Canada Post said it is also planning to scale down its labour force by between 6,000 and 8,000 people, though it maintains it can do so through attrition as about 15,000 employees are scheduled to retire in the coming years. Gazette Canada Post news release Urban dwellers baffled by community boxes.
