TORONTO -- Incoming international mail deliveries could face potential delays after the Canada Border Service Agency pulled inspectors from the site amid a COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Friday evening, a total of 182 positive cases have been reported at the Gateway processing plant in Mississauga, Ont., since Jan. 1, according to Canada Post.

The facility currently employs more than 4,500 staff who work in mail processing, technical services, transportation, casual and administration.

“Working alongside Peel Public Health, Canada Post is in its fourth day of conducting proactive onsite rapid testing at our Dixie Road facility. Over three days of testing, this effort has resulted in a total of 39 positive tests,” said Canada Post spokesperson Phil Legault.

In a statement provided to CTV News on Friday, the corporation said that it has now completed the testing of one entire shift and is working to test employees assigned to other shifts on a “voluntary basis.”

Despite the corporation’s operations being uninterrupted so far, the Customs and Immigration Union, which represents CBSA employees, says that the border agency has asked its workers to avoid the facility until it is safe to return to work.

“The concern is that we’re working shoulder-to-shoulder with Canada Post employees and they’re not telling us when these employees are testing positive, who they are, and it takes away the ability to keep ourselves safe,” said Weber.

Weber says that although mail could be held back, he doesn’t know how much will be delayed and has no idea how long it will take until operations are fully resolved.

“My understanding is that some of the mail is being diverted – there is one other postal facility in Mississauga,” said Mark Weber, national vice-president for the union.

Canada Post has not said whether delays are expected. However, Weber says that only CBSA staff are certified to inspect mail.

They can’t be replaced because CBSA staff require security training and licensing in order to adequately inspect international deliveries.

“The difficulty and the concern that we have is that we were getting reported numbers far less than what Canada Post was giving us. We were given numbers for all of January being 18 to 19 COVID-19 cases, which is far less than what is being reported,” said Weber.

Weber says he agrees with the CBSA’s decision to suspend their operations at the mail facility until proper contact tracing is done

CTV News has reached out to Canada Post for further comments and has not heard back.