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Ottawa (ON) – Canada Post today announced the 11 communities across Canada where mail will be delivered to new community mailboxes beginning in the fall of 2014. This is the first stage of a five-year national initiative involving roughly 5 million addresses.

In the larger cities in this initial stage, only a few specific neighbourhoods will be affected. Within the affected areas, most businesses will keep delivery to the door. In the smaller municipalities, nearly all households and a higher proportion of businesses will move to community mailbox delivery.

The 11 communities and the approximate number of affected addresses are:

• some neighbourhoods in Calgary, Alta. (10,450 addresses)
• Fort McMurray, Alta. (8,450 addresses)
• some neighbourhoods in Winnipeg, Man. (12,500 addresses)
• Oakville, Ont. (26,400 addresses)
• in Ottawa, Ont., neighbourhoods in Kanata (7,900 addresses)
• Rosemère, Que. (3,350 addresses)
• Lorraine, Que. (2,550 addresses)
• Bois-des-Filion, Que. (2,750 addresses)
• Charlemagne, Que. (1,300 addresses)
• Repentigny, Que. (14,400 addresses)
• and in Halifax, N.S., neighbourhoods in the Lower Sackville and Bedford areas (9,950 addresses).

The neighbourhoods that have been chosen are near areas that already have community mailboxes. As well, the operational structure needed to deliver to community mailboxes already exists in these communities, which makes them most suitable for efficient early conversion.

There will be no change in delivery for:

• people living in apartment buildings, seniors’ buildings and condominiums who have mail delivered in the building lobby.
• customers who have mail delivered to a rural mailbox at the end of a driveway.
• business addresses if they are in well-established business areas, such as main streets or “business corridors,” or receive a relatively large volume of mail or parcels.

Affected residents will soon receive an information package from Canada Post in the mail. It will tell them how they can express their priorities and preferences about their new delivery method. Using the feedback from residents, Canada Post will work with local municipal officials to determine suitable locations for the community mailboxes.

Canada Post understands that some seniors and Canadians with disabilities may not be able to get to their community mailbox, and it is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind from accessing the mail service. As it transitions existing neighbourhoods like these, it may need to offer additional solutions for people with significant mobility challenges, who lack viable alternatives and would face unacceptable hardship. Canada Post will seek input from the various communities that best know the challenges facing people with mobility issues and deploy new solutions before the conversion occurs.

Background:
Roughly 5 million Canadian addresses, or about one third of the addresses in the country, still have mail delivery to the door. The other two thirds of addresses have mail delivery to a centralized point such as an apartment lobby box, a post office, or to a community mailbox (a delivery method that has been in widespread use for about 30 years), or to a rural mailbox.

The five-year transition to community mailbox delivery will generate the largest financial benefit of Canada Post’s Five-point Action Plan, which was announced on December 11, 2013. Once fully implemented, the community mailbox initiative is forecasted to save $400 million to $500 million a year.

By implementing the Five-point Action Plan as a wave of retirements occurs, Canada Post will hire fewer employees while meeting the changing needs of Canadians for secure, convenient delivery of mail and parcels. Attrition will allow for the reduction of between 6,000 and 8,000 positions, yet Canada Post will respect its collective agreements and no regular full-time or part-time employees will lose their job as a result of the conversion initiative.

Where community mailboxes will be installed, Canada Post will still attempt delivery at the door of parcels too large to fit in the community mailbox’s parcel compartments and of parcels or registered items that require a signature.

New locations for community mailboxes. Ask, read, or share a question.