Canada Post Strike Leaves Online Sellers Scrambling Amid Carrier Overload

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


Comments

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!

ShippingNews

Liz Morton Twitter Facebook
LinkedIn

Liz Morton is a seasoned ecommerce pro with 17 years of online marketplace sales experience, providing commentary, analysis & news about eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Shopify & more at Value Added Resource!


Recent Comments
Avatar Placeholdersmallseller2 hours ago
I am in Canada. 90% of my goods are made in China. And then to have the other 10% tariffed will kill my business. 90% of my sales are to the US. Buyers will not be willing to pay an extra 54% as in the case with China goods. And I am not selling items from Temu and Shein. I am mostly selling vintage toys. I will have to move all of my items to sell only in Canada and lose all my US customers. I started reselling about 5 years ago and this was supposed to continue into my retirement. Goods that are retired can not be manufactured again. There is no plant that can be opened to make something that was built in the early 2000s. I would be shocked if Mattel would move their plant to the US.
Avatar PlaceholderEbay Bidder7 hours ago
So, ebay is doing an "intentional test" AT THE BUYER'S EXPENSE, with no indication this is happening until a bid is made. Seems like fraudulent behavior to me. What's the recourse for buyers?
Avatar PlaceholderEbay Bidder7 hours ago
Correction to previous comment:

...current published bid increment chart, shows increments of $0.25 below $5.00...

$0.25 below $4.99
$0.50 up to $24.99

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014&st=3&pos=1