Ombudsman’s report
Reporting to the Chair of the Board of Directors, the Office of the Ombudsman is independent of Canada Post staff and management. It gives Canadians another avenue if they feel Canada Post did not live up to its service commitments. It investigates customer complaints and recommends fair and equitable solutions. By identifying trends, focusing on prevention, and recommending changes as needed, it also offers Canada Post another perspective to improve service.
In 2023, the total number of appeals filed with our office remained almost flat compared to the previous year. We received 4,960 appeals compared to 4,955 in 2022, an increase of 0.1 per cent.
Two complaint categories represented 49 per cent of all investigations completed:
- Mail that was damaged, lost or missing.
- Compensation offered by Canada Post was deemed unfair.
When compared to the previous year, 2023 saw small increases in complaints about mail that was damaged, lost or missing; return-to-sender issues; mail delivered to the wrong address; and behaviour of delivery employees.
The number of appeals related to the Canadian Postal Service Charter increased by 3.7 per cent, compared to the previous year. The top reported issues were missing or damaged items, and difficulty reaching customer service. Together, they represented 83 per cent of all appeals relating to the Charter.
Of the 2,374 cases for which we completed an in-depth investigation, 28 per cent resulted in corrective action. For the rest, our investigation supported Canada Post’s decisions and actions.
Slightly more than half of the filings received did not result in an in-depth investigation because customers withdrew their submission before our investigation concluded, or did not provide the necessary documents, or reached out to us before Canada Post had the opportunity to fully address their issue.
In 2023, we saw progress in all areas where we had identified recurring issues.
We remain committed to working with all customers to ensure the appeal process is fair, unbiased and confidential.
