Toronto, November 14, 2024 - The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is disappointed by the potential for yet another work stoppage impacting small businesses and is urging Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to quickly come to an agreement to avoid any disruption as we head into the holiday shopping season.
While many Canadians may not depend on Canada Post as much as they once did, small businesses often rely on the postal system to ship goods, send marketing materials to consumers, send invoices and receive payments from suppliers and business customers.
A strong majority (79%) of small businesses rely on Canada Post services to do business. Three quarters (75%) of small firms said they will be negatively affected by a work stoppage, particularly with challenges to cash flow due to delayed invoices and cheques and higher cost delivery alternatives. With the critical holiday shopping season around the corner and limited alternatives in many parts of Canada, avoiding a postal disruption is important.
Small firms depend on a reliable postal service, and they need mail and parcel delivery service provided by Canada Post to remain fully operational. We’re asking both parties to negotiate in good faith and reach a quick resolution for the sake of Canadian small businesses and consumers. And as the federal government has ignored almost every attempt by Canada Post to deal with its unwieldy cost structures, CFIB will call on government to use all its powers (including binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation) to keep the postal system working if negotiations are unsuccessful.
- Corinne Pohlmann, Executive Vice-President, Advocacy, CFIB
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
Methodology
Preliminary results for the Flash Survey: Impact of Work Stoppages. The online survey is active since November 13, 2024, number of respondents = 1,461. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of at most +/- 2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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