Canada Post Strike Leaves Online Sellers Scrambling Amid Carrier Overload

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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As Canada Post strike stretches into third week, other carriers in the region are struggling under the load of increased volume, leaving online sellers stuck during critical holiday shopping period.

Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian recently retweeted a post from the frustrated COO of gourmet cookie company Félix & Norton who says their whole holiday season has gone up in smoke as even alternate carriers are unable to provide reliable service due to the backlog and increase in volumes.

The thread went on to show that due to the daily limit from Purolator, the company is unable to continue taking orders - and that since Purolator is 91% owned by Canada Post, there may be a conflict of interest or perverse incentives involved.

Meanwhile, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Dan Kelly says Canadian small business owners have already lost a billion dollars as a result of the strike.

Source: X/Twitter

Canadian business owners flooded the replies, sharing examples of the dire situation they are currently facing due to the ongoing strike action, spilling over into delays from UPS and other carriers.

And some carriers and postal services in other countries have temporarily suspended service the Canada entirely, since they depend on Canada Post for final delivery that cannot be made at this time.

The US Postal Service is suspending service to Canada effective November 29th.

DELIVERY: International Service Suspension Notice - Effective November 29, 2024 - Canada | PostalPro
Effective November 29, 2024, the Postal Service will temporarily suspend international mail acceptance to Canada due to the foreign postal operator indicating that they are unable to process or deliver international mail or services because of the ongoing national strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Customers are asked to refrain from mailing items addressed to the following country, until further notice: • Canada

This service disruption affects Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS), International Priority Airmail® (IPA), International Surface AirLift® (ISAL), Commercial ePacket® (CeP), and M-Bag® items.

In the UK, both Royal Mail and ParcelForce are also suspending service to Canada.

How is the Canada Post strike impacting your ecommerce business? Are you finding other carriers are cost prohibitive or not reliable due to backlog from the extra volume? Let us know in the comments below!

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.

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None Such
I sell certain lower value collectibles that are only economical to ship by USPS international letter mail. I won't ship them by UPS or FedEx as that would result in a huge loss. I am holding a couple of items sold to Canadian buyers until the strike is over and advised them as such. So far , they've agreed to wait.

Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderMarty_J5 hours ago
Was just checking to see if it would post without creating an account but….
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago

800 items sold 99.7 feedback

Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened

I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …

The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!
Avatar PlaceholderJkvinyl313 hours ago
As many have already quoted - us sellers now can not charge for packaging. I will be £500 a year out of pocket.
Avatar PlaceholderBanned in Chat20 hours ago
Should have renamed it D+Marketplace.