MNI:Canada Restructures Post Office To Stem Billions Of Losses

Canada’s government will cut services from the federal post office that has lost billions of dollars in recent years, a test of Mark Carney’s willingness to follow through on pledged efficiencies to curb a rising budget deficit. 

The requirement to deliver the mail five days a week is being removed, and a previous moratorium on removing rural services is being lifted that will allow the closure of offices in areas that have urbanized in the past few decades, according to a government official who spoke to reporters on background. Changes will move Canada Post towards financial stability but other future actions will likely be needed, the official said. 

Canada Post in January required a CAD1 billion infusion after years of losses left it running out of a cash to pay an upcoming bond, and it lost another CAD407 million in the second quarter. Letter mail volume has fallen 70% since 2006 and the service's share of parcel delivery has also plunged. (See: MNI: Carney Deficits Are Bulwark Against Big Macklem BOC Cuts)