Calls for Ottawa to end Canada Post strike mount as businesses face challenges

As the Canada Post strike nears its three-week mark, stores across the country have turned to alternate measures to send products to paying customers and keep operations running smoothly.

Megan Murray, who works at Jack & Maddy A Kids' Store in downtown Orillia, tells CTV News Toronto they have turned to other courier services amid the Crown corporation's labour disruptions.

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"You have to pivot. When you encounter a challenge, you just have to change directions," said Murray.

Calls for the federal government to intervene in the Canada Post strike continue to grow as businesses face challenges.

The Retail Council of Canada (RCC) said the strike is causing widespread disruption to the retail sector during the critical shopping season.

"Retail knows that the best labour agreement is negotiated with both parties at the table, but that’s not happening, and it’s time to end the strike. In the meantime, thousands of retailers and millions of consumers are paying the price," said Diane Brisebois, RCC President and CEO.

The call mirrors the same message from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which said on Monday that the postal strike is costing small- and medium-sized businesses $76.6 million a day.

Come Wednesday, the CFIB says businesses will have $1 billion in lost revenue, prompting its call for the federal government to stop the strike.

"These strikes actions are not insignificant and have broader actions on the greater economy and they have impacts on other Canadians," said Christina Santini with CFIB.

Equifax Canada released a Q3 2024 Business Credit Trends Report and raised concerns about the amount of debt some businesses are taking on.

Jeff Brown, Head of Commercial Solutions at Equifax, said the report shows $35 billion total in business debt balances, which is a 15.3 per cent year-over-year increase.

Brown said the increase is driven largely by newer businesses, which saw a 25.2 per cent rise in debt. Brown said the postal strike couldn't have come at a worse time.

"Small business have been impacted every way you can think of this year. There were port strikes, railway strikes, airline strikes and now, a postal strike," said Brown.

The Canadian Chamber of Commence said its members agree and feels the government should also intervene, as the strike has dragged on at a crucial time of year.

"We have to ask the government to take this seriously and make sure we get to a resolution and if that means intervention, we can't let this go on much longer. Canadians and Canadian business are paying the price," said Pascal Chan, senior Director of Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction with the Chamber.

Some small businesses are worried their packages won’t arrive in time for the holidays and have been telling customers to cancel their order, pay more for courier services or wait until the strike is over to receive their packages.

Some businesses also worry that if they can't deliver product in time for the holiday season, consumers will turn to companies like Amazon that uses its own delivery services.