‘Scrambling’: Small businesses anxious about possible Canada Post strike

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The manager of an Alberta clothing store says small businesses like hers are feeling anxious as a strike deadline nears for thousands of Canada Post workers.

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Erin Primrose has been frantically preparing to send out shipments from Thelma & Thistle in Lethbridge using alternative delivery services.

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“We’re scrambling for sure,” she said in an interview Thursday.

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“It’s stressful. We want to make sure we’re making the right choices for our customers, honouring them and not gouging them. Because that doesn’t feel right at all.”

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About 55,000 members of the Canadian Union Of Postal Workers are set to go on strike shortly after midnight.

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It would be the second postal strike within a year. The strike in November saw operations shut down until just before Christmas.

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Primrose said her store’s shipping costs increased slightly during the 2024 strike, as it switched to alternative carriers.

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“It was frustrating and really time consuming to kind of pivot and to learn the new systems,” she said.

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“I spent hours and hours and hours on hold tracing packages, trying to place claims, sort out where items had been lost, dealing with frustrated customers.”

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She hopes this time around a strike will be easier to manage.

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“It is a big deal and it does affect not just businesses, but human beings across Canada,” Primrose said.

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Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, said many business owners already struggling with uncertain times are stressed about another possible labour disruption.

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“A strong wind could blow over some of these small firms right now … they’re so desperately weak.”

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Businesses were still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic when Canada Post workers walked off the job last year, he said.

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“The 32-day strike cost small business owners $1 billion in additional costs over that period of time.”

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Now they are also dealing with uncertainty brought on by Canada’s trade war with the United States, Kelly added.

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“Not only has that created higher costs and unknown risks for small businesses, but it’s also led to a drop in consumer demand.”

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The union says on its website the latest offer from the postal service of a 13 per cent wage increase over four years falls short of the 19 per cent increase workers asked for to keep pace with the rising costs of living.

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It has also raised concerns about Canada Post’s pitch to include more part-time staff and introduce “dynamic routing” — a model that could see mail delivery routes change on a daily basis to adjust to varying conditions — without details on how it would work.

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Canada Post said it’s already seeing mail volumes decline and is pushing for an urgent resolution.

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“We remain hopeful that negotiations can resume,” said postal service spokesperson Lisa Liu.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2025.

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— With files from Craig Lord in Ottawa

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