Residents rally to save only post office in Vancouver’s Chinatown

Chinatown’s residents are fighting the closure of the neighbourhood’s only post office, saying it will be another blow to the community.

A community is calling for action after Canada Post announced it would be closing the post office located at Main and Hastings, the only one in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood, on Nov. 12.

The closure will leave some residents, like Ellen Campbell, scrambling for alternatives.

“Where am I going to collect my mail in the future?” Campbell asked.

She told CTV News that the decision “doesn’t make any sense” and represents another setback for her community.

“It’s another turn against low-income people because we depend on the post office,” she said.

In a statement to CTV News, Canada Post indicated that it had reached a mutual agreement with the business owners to close this location.

Melody Ma, from Save Chinatown YVR, spearheaded a petition to prevent the post office from closing.

She emphasized that this location is about more than just mail services for the community.

“We need to tell Canada Post and all relevant authorities that they must find a solution to keep the Chinatown post office open, whether through a public management model or an alternative franchise,” Ma stated.

Packages and mail are set to be rerouted to various locations, such as Abbott Street.

Ma argued this solution is inadequate, noting, “We have a lot of Chinese seniors in this neighborhood with mobility challenges, where walking across the street is already a massive challenge for them, let alone going to a post office that is over a half a kilometer away.”

Canada Post is currently facing an ongoing strike and significant financial losses.

The crown corporation has accumulated $5 billion in losses since 2018 and has required $1 billion in support from the government.

While the federal government has stated that it is Canada Post’s responsibility to serve all communities, MP Jenny Kwan from Vancouver East expressed concern, stating that it doesn’t feel this way.

She explained that this is the second post office to close in her riding.

“What this tells me is that they’re actually working towards gutting out postal offices in neighborhoods,” Kwan said.

Ma hopes Canada Post will reconsider its decision.

“Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. Physical access to a post office is essential to this community,” she said.