‘It was lost and nowhere to be found’: Man who volunteers in Africa scrambles to get paperwork in order after Canada Post loses his mail

Two CTV News viewers who paid extra for registered mail to send important documents reached out to CTV News after their mail never showed up.

Two Ontarians who paid extra to send registered mail through Canada Post claim their important documents have now been lost.

“I checked back a few days later to see when it was being delivered to the consulate and it was lost and nowhere to be found,” said Ethan Thorogood of Toronto.

Thorogood told CTV News he has volunteered in the past to help children’s causes in Africa, and this year, he decided to visit Kenya and Ghana for three months to continue with his humanitarian work.

It was during the spring when he said he mailed his passport, proof of vaccines and other documents to the Consulate of Ghana in Markham, Ont., however, the documents were declared lost and Thorogood had to scramble to replace all the missing paperwork.

Thorogood said the replacement and rush to get everything processed added an extra expense of $750 to his trip.

“Getting them replaced, then having to speed it up because I was leaving so soon cost more, so it was so much more expensive and stressful,” he said.

In the end, Thorogood was able to get the documents in time to make his trip.

When CTV News reached out to Canada Post on Thorogood’s behalf, a spokesperson said in a statement, “Our teams conducted a thorough search of our facilities and the parcel’s check points. Unfortunately, nothing conclusive was found and we can only speculate at this point as to what may have happened.”

“We can confirm that the customer utilized ExpressPost, which includes insurance coverage up to $100. Consequently, the customer was refunded the maximum insurance amount of $100. When shipping using ExpressPost, it is up to the customer to request additional insurance and cover the associated fee if desired. As per these policies, Canada Post is not liable to issue any further refunds.”

Confidential documents lost in the mail

“This is actually the registered tag that shows I sent it as a registered mail,” said Sarah Isaacs of Mississauga.

Isaacs told CTV News she had mailed some confidential documents containing medical records in February for a family member. She said she mailed the documents as a registered letter, and received a tracking number from Canada Post.

“Because its confidential medical information, I said I’m going to send it through Canada Post as a registered letter,” said Isaacs.

Isaacs said she kept checking to see when her registered letter would arrive, and more than five months later, it still appeared to be ‘in transit.’

“They lost my letter and they refuse to do anything about it because it’s outside the 60 day window,” said Isaacs. “As a customer, I’m completely frustrated.”

CTV News reached to Canada Post on Isaacs behalf as well, and in a statement, a spokesperson said, “This is an unfortunate situation and we apologize to the customer that their registered letter still has not been delivered. The customer did contact our customer service team in June to inquire about the registered letter she sent in February that was still not received.”

“Regrettably, while it’s only speculation as to what may have happened along the delivery route, our tracking system still cannot locate the letter after it left our Kitchener mail processing centre enroute to Waterloo for delivery. We have again recently investigated its whereabouts with no success.”

Isaacs says she’s frustrated her family’s private documents have disappeared.

“This is confidential medical information. I don’t know where it’s sitting,” said Isaacs. “You can’t lose registered mail. That’s absolutely insane.”