Letters to Santa are more like to be delivered by email this year. That’s because Canada Post delivered 7.5% fewer pieces of mail in the third quarter, the lowest in almost two decades according to its most recent financial statements.Thus far in 2023, the Crown corporation has delivered 78 million fewer pieces of so-called ‘transaction mail’ — those with paid stamps on them — than it did the year before. Year-to-date, the company has delivered 1.67 billion pieces of mail compared to 1.75 billion the year before.Total mail volumes are down 55% since reaching a peak of almost four billion pieces in 2006 and are expected to continue to decline with more people shifting to digital communications tools such as email, it said.And despite a mandate under the Canada Post Corporation Act to continue to deliver physical mail at regulated rates, Canada Post is on track to lose close to $1 billion this year after what could modestly be termed as a “disappointing” third quarter..Stamp rates have been frozen since 2020, which “has not allowed the Corporation to mitigate the revenue impact of volume declines in this eroding line of business.”Canada Post.The federal government’s flagship Crown corp. lost $290 million for the three months ended September 30, bringing losses to date to $651 million, up from $227 million and $516 million in the similar periods of 2022.Part of the reason is because stamp prices have been frozen since 2020 through the end of this year, which “has not allowed the Corporation to mitigate the revenue impact of volume declines in this eroding line of business,” it said in a statement.Despite 12% higher parcel and package volumes, the company blamed increased competition in the parcel market for a 3.5% revenue drop — $154 million — for dragging on results despite a broader move to online shopping and e-commerce.With parcels representing roughly half of Canada Post's revenue, the company said it is “transforming to meet the evolving needs of customers in a competitive market, while strengthening the postal service's position as a vital economic link for all Canadians.”.Meanwhile, the cost of operations rose $26 million in the third quarter, or 1.4% from a year ago, which was more than the $23 million increase recorded year-to-date, due to higher fuel prices.Although its Purolator and SCI divisions remained profitable, those segments were also slightly lower. Purolator recorded pre-tax earnings of $201 million, compared to $203 million in the prior-year period, while SCI recorded a profit before tax of $8 million, compared to $12 million in the same period of 2022. A rare bright spot was its direct marketing division — 2.8 billion flyers — which saw higher volumes and revenues in the quarter.Canada Post serves the largest geographic area of any postal service in the world, including Russia and delivered its first paid mail starting in 1600.Originally known as Royal Mail Canada, in 1981 the federal government abolished its Post Office department and converted it into a wholly-owned corporation. It operates more than 6,200 corporate and private post offices throughout the country and employs about 25,000 letter carriers.
