Canadian Postal Service Charter
The Canadian Postal Service Charter ensures that postal services remain universal, affordable, reliable, convenient, secure and responsive to Canada Post’s customers.
Our compliance to the Charter for 2023 is presented after each clause.
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Preamble
The Canada Post Corporation was created to provide a standard of postal service that meets the needs of the people of Canada. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring transparency in how Canada Post provides quality postal services to all Canadians, rural and urban, individuals and businesses, in a secure and financially self-sustaining manner.
The Government has therefore established the Canadian Postal Service Charter to describe its expectations regarding Canada Post’s service standards and related activities in providing postal services that meet the needs of consumers of postal services in Canada. These expectations are not intended to modify or derogate from Canada Post’s obligations as set out in the Canada Post Corporation Act or any other legislation.
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Universal service
- Charter expectation 1 - Canada Post will maintain a postal system that allows individuals and businesses in Canada to send and receive mail within Canada and between Canada and elsewhere. Canada Post will provide a service for the collection, transmission and delivery of letters, parcels and publications.
Our compliance:
All 17.4 million Canadian residential and business addresses were served, and international inbound and outbound services were offered to 192 countries. - Charter expectation 2 - The provision of postal services to rural regions of the country is an integral part of Canada Post’s universal service.
Our compliance:
More than 8,200 rural and suburban delivery routes served approximately 5.5 million addresses. Of the almost 5,800 postal outlets located across Canada, more than half were in rural areas.
- Charter expectation 1 - Canada Post will maintain a postal system that allows individuals and businesses in Canada to send and receive mail within Canada and between Canada and elsewhere. Canada Post will provide a service for the collection, transmission and delivery of letters, parcels and publications.
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Affordable rates
- Charter expectation 3 - Canada Post will charge uniform postage rates for letters of similar size and weight, so that letters to Canadian addresses will require the same postage, regardless of the distance to reach the recipient.
Our compliance:
The Corporation charged a uniform rate for letters of similar size and weight, regardless of distance. - Charter expectation 4 - As required by the Canada Post Corporation Act, Canada Post will charge postage rates that are fair and reasonable and, together with other revenues, are sufficient to cover the costs incurred in its operations.
Our compliance:
Canada Post maintained regulated prices at 2020 levels through 2023. The rate for a stamp purchased in a booklet, coil or pane remained at $0.92, while the price of a single stamp remained at $1.07 in 2023. The cost of providing a postal service to all Canadians has been steadily impacted by inflation. This, combined with the fact that each year there are fewer letters to deliver to more addresses, has put considerable financial pressure on Canada Post. - Charter expectation 5 - Canada Post will provide advance notice of and publicly advertise proposed pricing changes for regulated letter mail products and consult with consumers during the rate-setting process.
Our compliance:
There were no regulated postage rate changes in 2023, and therefore customer consultation on pricing changes was not required.
In February 2024, Canada Post published in the Canada Gazette proposed rate increases to letter mail items, international letter-post items, and special services and fees for public consultation. Governor in Council approval of the new rates is required prior to them taking effect.
- Charter expectation 3 - Canada Post will charge uniform postage rates for letters of similar size and weight, so that letters to Canadian addresses will require the same postage, regardless of the distance to reach the recipient.
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Frequent and reliable delivery
- Charter expectation 6 - Canada Post will deliver letters, parcels and publications five days a week (except for statutory holidays) to every Canadian address, except in remote areas where less frequent service may be necessary due to limited access to the community.
Our compliance:
Letter carriers and rural and suburban mail carriers provided scheduled five-day-a-week delivery to 99.9 per cent of the addresses they serve. - Charter expectation 7 - Canada Post will deliver to every address in Canada. This may be delivery to the door, a community mailbox, group mailbox, a rural mailbox, a postal box, general delivery at the post office or delivery to a central point in apartment/office buildings.
Our compliance:
Canada Post delivered to every address in Canada. A breakdown of delivery methods is in the chart under paragraph 19. - Charter expectation 8 - Canada Post will deliver letter mail:
- within a community within two business days;
- within a province within three business days; and
- between provinces within four business days.
Our compliance:
Overall on-time service performance for Domestic Lettermail delivery in 2023 was 95.0 per cent, an improvement from 2022.
- Charter expectation 6 - Canada Post will deliver letters, parcels and publications five days a week (except for statutory holidays) to every Canadian address, except in remote areas where less frequent service may be necessary due to limited access to the community.
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Convenient access to postal services
- Charter expectation 9 - Canada Post will provide an extensive network for accessing postal services that includes retail postal outlets, stamp shops and street letter boxes, as well as access to information and customer service through Canada Post’s website and call centres.
Our compliance:
In addition to almost 5,800 full-service post offices and thousands of places to buy stamps, Canada Post offered access to online services anytime through its website and its apps, such as tracking a package, registering a change of address, purchasing postage, paying for duties and taxes, and obtaining photo confirmation of delivery.
Canada Post also provided more than 974,000 collection points where postal items could be deposited. This includes approximately 705,000 rural mailboxes, 220,000 community mailboxes, 22,000 street letter boxes, and 22,000 indoor parcel lockers, along with our postal outlets and other locations.
- Charter expectation 10 - Canada Post will provide retail postal outlets, including both corporate post offices and private dealer-operated outlets which are conveniently located and operated, so that:
- 98 per cent of consumers will have a postal outlet within 15 km;
- 88 per cent of consumers will have a postal outlet within 5 km; and
- 78 per cent of consumers will have a postal outlet within 2.5 km.
Our compliance:
In 2023, 99 per cent of Canadians lived within 15 km of a postal outlet, 90 per cent within 5 km, and 78 per cent within 2.5 km.
- Charter expectation 11 - The moratorium on the closure of rural post offices is maintained. Situations affecting Canada Post personnel (e.g., retirement, illness, death, etc.) or Canada Post infrastructure (e.g., fire or termination of lease, etc.) may, nevertheless, affect the ongoing operation of a post office.
Our compliance:
In 2023, personnel or infrastructure issues affected 121 post offices covered by the moratorium. In 100 cases, retail services to the community were maintained through staffing of vacancies and in 21 cases retail services were provided in a neighbouring community. Remaining cases are undergoing staffing actions or being reviewed through further community consultation. In all cases, delivery services for the community were maintained without disruption.
- Charter expectation 9 - Canada Post will provide an extensive network for accessing postal services that includes retail postal outlets, stamp shops and street letter boxes, as well as access to information and customer service through Canada Post’s website and call centres.
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Secure delivery
- Charter expectation 12 - Canada Post will take into consideration the security and privacy of the mail in every aspect of mail collection, transmission and delivery.
Our compliance:
The Security and Investigation Services group conducts its operations in accordance with the Canada Post Corporation Act and other regulatory and legislative authorities. Canada Post Corporation is subject to the Privacy Act and is committed to meeting its obligations under this act.
- Charter expectation 12 - Canada Post will take into consideration the security and privacy of the mail in every aspect of mail collection, transmission and delivery.
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Community outreach and consultation
- Charter expectation 13 - Where Canada Post plans to change delivery methods, Canada Post will communicate, either in person or in writing, with affected customers and communities at least one month in advance to explain decisions and explore options that address customer concerns.
Our compliance:
In all instances, Canada Post provided advance notice and extensive consultation with affected households before implementing any changes.
- Charter expectation 14 - At least one month before deciding to permanently close, move or amalgamate corporate post offices, Canada Post will meet with affected customers and communities to jointly explore options and find practical solutions that address customer concerns.
Our compliance:
In 2023, four urban corporate post offices came under review. Affected customers and communities were notified and consulted at least one month in advance of any proposed change.
- Charter expectation 15 - Each year, Canada Post will hold an Annual Public Meeting open to the public to provide an opportunity for the public to express views, ask questions and provide feedback to Canada Post.
Our compliance:
Canada Post held its Annual Public Meeting by live webcast on June 7, 2023.
- Charter expectation 13 - Where Canada Post plans to change delivery methods, Canada Post will communicate, either in person or in writing, with affected customers and communities at least one month in advance to explain decisions and explore options that address customer concerns.
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Responding to complaints
- Charter expectation 16 - Canada Post will establish and promulgate complaint resolution processes that are easily accessible to customers and will address complaints in a fair, respectful and timely manner.
Our compliance:
In 2023, Customer Service answered 2.5 million customer calls, and responded to more than 2.9 million customer inquiries created through online channels such as web, chat and email. In addition, customers were able to self-serve using Canada Post’s online and voice virtual assistants, which handled a combined 6.1 million conversations.
- Charter expectation 17 - The Canada Post Ombudsman will investigate complaints about compliance with the Canadian Postal Service Charter in situations where customers remain unsatisfied after they have exhausted Canada Post’s complaint resolution processes.
Our compliance:
The Ombudsman is the final appeal authority in complaint resolution at Canada Post. More information can be found on the Office of the Ombudsman’s website.
- Charter expectation 16 - Canada Post will establish and promulgate complaint resolution processes that are easily accessible to customers and will address complaints in a fair, respectful and timely manner.
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Reporting on performance
- Charter expectation 18 - Each year in its Annual Report, Canada Post will report on its performance against each of the expectations in this Canadian Postal Service Charter.
- Charter expectation 19 - In addition, Canada Post will present in its Annual Report an overview of the delivery methods it uses, indicating the number of addresses served with each delivery method and the financial costs associated with each method of delivery.
Our compliance:
Delivery method Number of
addresses*Percentage
of total
addressesAverage annual
cost per addressDoor to door 4,197,503 24% $284 Centralized point (e.g. apartment lobby lockbox) 4,865,553 28% $130 Group mailbox, community mailbox, kiosk 5,967,221 34% $162 Delivery facility (postal box, general delivery) 1,662,259 10% $63 Rural mailbox 704,543 4% $281 All methods 17,397,079 100% $178 * As at December 31, 2023
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Reviewing the Charter
- Charter expectation 20 - The Government will review the Canadian Postal Service Charter every five years after its adoption to assess the need to adapt the Charter to changing requirements.
Our compliance:
In 2018, the Government of Canada affirmed that Canada Post is expected to continue to meet the expectations laid out in the Charter. The Charter is due for Government review.
- Charter expectation 20 - The Government will review the Canadian Postal Service Charter every five years after its adoption to assess the need to adapt the Charter to changing requirements.