Canada Post reports unprecedented $541-million loss before tax in third quarter

The Corporation’s loss from operations exceeds $1 billion in the first nine months of 2025, as labour uncertainty drives customers to competitors

OTTAWA, ON, Nov. 21, 2025 /CNW/ – Canada Post’s financial situation continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of 2025 as the Corporation recorded a loss before tax of $541 million. It was the largest quarterly loss in the company’s history. Ongoing strike activity and uncertainty continued to drive customers to competitors for their deliveries, leading to a Parcels revenue decline of approximately 40 per cent.¹

The company is facing the most severe and challenging financial situation in its history. The third-quarter loss before tax of $541 million widened by $226 million compared to a loss before tax of $315 million in the same period a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2025, Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $989 million, compared to a loss before tax of $345 million in the same period a year earlier. Nearly all year-to-date losses were incurred in the second and third quarters, reflecting the significant impact of labour uncertainty on the business. The company’s year-to-date results put it on track to record a 2025 loss that’s significantly larger than any in its history.

Strike activity and uncertainty for customers weigh on results

In the third quarter and first nine months of the year, the company continued to operate without new collective agreements with its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Ongoing strike activity by CUPW and uncertainty about service disruptions continued to negatively impact Parcels and Direct Marketing revenue. Transaction Mail revenue rose due to stamp price increases, as well as volume increases related to election mailings and a surge in Lettermail^™ following the national strike in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the third quarter and first nine months of 2025, Canada Post’s revenue fell by $283 million, or 18.0 per cent, and by $386 million, or 6.8 per cent, respectively, compared to the same periods of the prior year.

Loss from operations

Canada Post recorded a loss from operations of $535 million in the third quarter, widening by $222 million from a loss from operations of $313 million in the same period a year earlier. In the first nine months of 2025, the loss from operations was $1.042 billion, compared to $803 million in the same period of the prior year. For comparison periods, the loss from operations excludes any income gained from the 2024 divestitures of SCI Group Inc. and Innovapost Inc. Since 2018, the Canada Post segment has incurred cumulative operating losses exceeding $5.5 billion.

Cash injections to support operations

In early 2025, the Government of Canada announced funding of up to $1.034 billion for Canada Post during the government’s 2025-26 fiscal year. The cash injections are being used to cover operating expenses that cannot be sufficiently supported by the company’s projected revenues. In the third quarter, Canada Post started receiving these government cash injections, with total payments of $755 million in the quarter. While the funding is intended to carry Canada Post through the Government of Canada’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, the Corporation expects to fully utilize the $1.034 billion by December 31, 2025, due to the ongoing labour uncertainty and its impact on revenue. Canada Post will therefore need to access short-term financing facilities to maintain solvency and support operations over the following 12 months.

Transformation to modernize the postal service

Following direction from the government and the lifting of long-standing restrictions, Canada Post is starting a transformation to modernize the postal service, chart a financially sustainable path forward and better serve Canadians and Canadian businesses. The transformation will include:

• Updating letter mail delivery standards to provide more flexibility and reflect the modern expectations of Canadians;
• Converting remaining home delivery to community mailboxes, while investing in the company’s Delivery Accommodation Program;
• Modernizing Canada Post’s national retail network to better reflect where Canadians live, how they shop and how they use the postal service;
• Reviewing the process for increasing regulated stamp prices to streamline and shorten it, in line with the recommendations of the Industrial Inquiry Commission.

These important changes will help to ensure postal services remain reliable, affordable and universal for all Canadians and Canadian businesses, while saving the Corporation hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The Government of Canada has stated that transformation is required to ensure the survival of Canada Post and that repeated taxpayer-funded bailouts are not a long-term solution.

Cost of operations

In the third quarter and the first nine months of 2025, total operating costs declined by 3.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, compared to the same periods of the prior year. For both periods, lower parcel volumes led to a decline in transportation costs while non-capital investments decreased. Despite some labour cost savings from lower parcel volumes, overall labour costs increased compared to the prior-year periods due to wage increases and an inefficient labour structure.

Parcels

In the third quarter of 2025, Parcels revenue fell by $297 million, or 39.8 per cent, as volumes declined by 27 million pieces, or 42.5 per cent, compared to the same period of 2024. For the first nine months of the year, Parcels revenue declined by $779 million, or 33.0 per cent, as volumes fell by 70 million pieces, or 34.8 per cent, compared to the same period of the prior year. For the third quarter and first nine months of the year, revenue fell sharply as strike activity and uncertainty about service disruptions drove customers to flexible competitors that could offer delivery stability.

Transaction Mail

In the third quarter, Transaction Mail revenue increased by $59 million, or 11.3 per cent, as volumes declined by 34 million pieces, or 7.1 per cent, compared to the same period a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2025, Transaction Mail revenue increased by $435 million, or 26.2 per cent, as volumes rose by 19 million pieces, or 2.3 per cent, compared to the same period of 2024. While Transaction Mail continues to be in secular decline, the line of business benefitted from a postage rate increase in January 2025, as well as Lettermail volume increases related to election mailings and a temporary surge following the national strike in the fourth quarter of 2024. 

Direct Marketing

In the third quarter, Direct Marketing revenue fell by $46 million, or 18.5 per cent, as volumes declined by 334 million pieces, or 30.0 per cent, compared to the same period of the previous year. For the first nine months of the year, revenue fell by $58 million, or 6.8 per cent, as volumes decreased by 440 million pieces, or 12.1 per cent, compared to the same period of 2024. Labour uncertainty affected the line of business as customers sought to avoid time-sensitive mailings getting trapped in the postal network. CUPW’s ban on the delivery of Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail™ in September 2025 also negatively impacted the thousands of Canadian businesses and charities that reach their customers with information and offers through the mail.

Group of Companies²

In the third quarter of 2025, the Canada Post Group of Companies recorded a loss before tax of $481 million, compared to a loss before tax of $252 million in the same period a year earlier. Purolator recorded a profit before tax of $59 million in the third quarter, compared to a profit before tax of $62 million in the same period of 2024.

In the first nine months of the year, the Group of Companies recorded a loss before tax of $908 million compared to a loss before tax of $281 million in the same period of the prior year. Purolator recorded a profit before tax of $160 million in the first nine months of 2025, compared to a profit before tax of $182 million in the prior-year period.

Year-over-year comparisons for the Group of Companies are affected by the divestitures of SCI and Innovapost in 2024, as well as Purolator’s acquisition of Livingston International in the first quarter of 2025.

Background  

The Canada Post Group of Companies’ operations are historically funded by revenue generated by the sale of its products and services. In the third quarter, due to its deteriorating financial situation and to prevent insolvency, the Canada Post segment started receiving federal government cash injections.

^™ Trademark of Canada Post Corporation.

SOURCE Canada Post