Toronto, December 13, 2024 – Nearly three-quarters (73%) of small business owners say they will be using Canada Post less in the future because of the strike, finds new data by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
“Small businesses have written off Canada Post for this holiday season, as even if the strike were settled today, it will take weeks to restart the system and get through the backlog already in the system,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president. “But it should alarm us all that thousands of small firms will permanently abandon use of Canada Post as small businesses have been forced to put alternatives in place. Canada Post and its union may well have lost their last reliable customers – small business owners.”
The daily cost of the strike on small business has also risen to $100 million per day, according to new data collected by CFIB on December 10-11, especially given that private sector couriers appear to have reached maximum capacity with many pausing any new shipments from small businesses. The total financial hit to small firms has now reached $1.6 billion since the strike began.
“Parliament is distracted with a thousand other issues and has ignored this crisis for small business,” Kelly added. “MPs of all political stripes have spent more time focused on the cost of Air Canada carry-on baggage than the impact of the Canada Post strike on small businesses and consumers.”
CFIB is calling on both Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to call an immediate truce and resume operations while continuing to work through their differences. If this fails, then the Minister must immediately order binding arbitration to get workers back on the job. In addition, all political parties should hold an emergency debate on the strike and its implications on the future of Canada Post before Parliament rises.
CFIB encourages business owners impacted by the strike to send a message to their Member of Parliament by using CFIB’s customizable template letter.
“What’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year has turned into the nightmare before Christmas. Due to circumstances far beyond their control, small businesses are struggling to deliver goods in time for Christmas. CFIB encourages consumers to shop in person and to be understanding with businesses doing their best to deal with the postal disruption and the upcoming GST/HST holiday,” said Corinne Pohlmann, Executive VP of Advocacy.
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 Canada Post strike and GST/HST exemption. The online survey is active since November 26, 2024, number of respondents = 5,250. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of at most +/- 1.3%, 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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