Canada Post still struggling to clear backlogs as Christmas approaches

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Canada Post is struggling to catch up with volumes three times higher than the same time last year.

Following the recent rounds of rotating strikes across the country, the Crown corporation is now backlogged with 700 trailers full of mail just three weeks before Christmas. The backlog means parcels may not be delivered in time for the holidays.

Jon Hamilton, communications for Canada Post, says there is only so much they can do to catch up.

“There’s 700 trailers across the country: new records in all the wrong ways,” he says. “We’re still seeing a significant amount coming in and there’s more and more arriving every day, so we’re out doing our best in a safe and responsible manner. Our people are doing a good job.”

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Not only are they behind, the backlog is still growing, he says.

“Because there’s more coming in than we can get out for delivery, so we’re going to continue to be open and transparent with customers, so they can make good decisions, but we are just not where we need to be in a regular holiday season,” he says.

Although the strikes have ended, some union supporters have been disrupting mail services at processing plants in Richmond and other major cities across the country. The mail processing facility in Richmond is behind, so is the major processing facility in Toronto , Ottawa and Hamilton.