Canada Post lays off dozens of managers amid restructuring, labour dispute

Mail and parcel delivery are set to resume this morning on a limited basis as Canada Post workers are back on the job amid rotating strikes. Mailboxes are seen at Canada Post's main plant in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, May 9, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canada Post has laid off dozens of managers amid its restructuring plan and ongoing labour dispute with employees, a source confirmed to CTV News.

“These changes are a continuation of our corporate-wide restructuring efforts to better align our management team with the future needs of the organization,” wrote Canada Post president and CEO Doug Ettinger in a memo to employees obtained by CTV News. “While these decisions are sometimes necessary, they are never taken lightly.”

Canada Post also confirmed the layoffs in a statement to CTV News, saying the company “made the difficult decision to eliminate some positions,” but wouldn’t provide specifics on how many employees were impacted.

The development was first reported by the Toronto Star.

Late last month, Government Transformation Minister Joel Lightbound announced major changes to Canada Post to address the “existential” challenges facing the corporation, calling it “effectively insolvent.”

These changes included delivery standards for letter mail, lifting the moratorium on community mailbox conversions and lifting the moratorium on rural post offices.

The government also asked Canada Post to reduce its management and overhead costs by at least 15 per cent.

In response, the union — which represents about 55,000 members — announced an immediate nationwide strike, while a protracted labour dispute was already ongoing.

The union shifted to rotating strikes on Oct. 9. The Crown corporation and the union, meanwhile, are set to return to the bargaining table later this week, according to The Canadian Press.

“We need to ensure our costs better align to our financial realities, which means our organization will be leaner at all levels going forward,” Ettinger also wrote in the memo. “To minimize the impact on our teams, we will continue to manage our workforce first through attrition while we maintain our external hiring freeze.”

In an interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos last month, Lightbound said the changes to Canada Post would take place over time, but that it was for the heads of the corporation to implement the directives.

“It takes political courage, but I think given the numbers, given that Canadians have had to inject a billion dollars this year just to keep the lights on at Canada Post, I think it’s expected from Canadians that will make the tough decisions to preserve Canada Post, make sure that it’s on a viable financial path, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today,” he said.

Canada Post, meanwhile, says the corporation “will be sharing our plan with the government in the next few weeks” and that the company “must take decisive action to deliver the services Canadians need in a way that is financially sustainable.”

Since 2018, Canada Post has lost more than $5 billion and is expected to lose $1.5 billion in 2025.

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha and Rachel Aiello