Small and rural B.C. businesses face shipping cost jump as Canada Post workers strike

Small and ruralbusinesses in B.C. say the financial impact of the Canada Post strike will hit them hard.

With the Crown corporation on strike less than six weeks before Christmas, one retailer says he might not be able to fulfil some orders, and that others will cost more to ship with private couriers.

"Canada Post has advantages over any other carrier," said Chris Pafiolis, co-owner of SweetLegs, a Kelowna-based clothing company.

Specifically, the Crown corporation charges "drastically less" to deliver to rural areasand, for some parts of the country, is the only service that delivers there, Pafiolis said. It's also the only Canadian carrier that delivers to post office boxes, he said.

As a result, Pafiolis said his customer service team is reaching out to all Canadian customers who've made orders to P.O. boxes to askif there's an alternative address that SweetLegs can send their package to instead. If they say yes, Pafiolis saidthe company will pay to ship with a private courier.

Otherwise, customer orders will haveto be cancelled "because there's literally no way to deliver it" during the strike,he said.

Don't expect 'free shipping'

Pafiolis said the business, which he runs with his wife, ships about 25 per cent of its orders with Canada Post. In recent years,it's fulfilled around 100,000 orders annually, meaning up to 25,000 packages would normally go through Canada Post.

This year, the total may be lower.Pafiolis said the uncertainty right before Black Friday is distressing, and could affect the long-term growth of businesses like his.

"Traditionally, Black Friday has been a time where we gain new customers and also [sell] our inventory that's not moving to flush it out to provide space for new inventory,and also [bring in] cash flow to reinvest into new products that we have coming down the line for the following year."

WATCH | Small business owners ready themselves for impactas strike begins:

Small business owner braces for fallout from Canada Post strike

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Duration 3:53

A Kelowna, B.C. clothing business that relies on mail orders to stay afloat says they are already feeling the impact of job action from Canada Post employees as customers cancel orders ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Shipping packages with other companies can cost 50 to 100 per cent more, Pafiolis said. As a result, he saidonline shoppers should expect to see fewer companies offering free shipping.

"When you select free shipping, it might cost me up to $20 to ship that package [with Canada Post]. And right now with Canada Post gone, some of those shipping costs are $30 or $40 to get you one package," he said.

Prohibitive costs

Catherine Forbes, co-owner of Tomic Lures, normally ships about 95 per cent of her company's fishing tackle orders with Canada Post. Forbes said her company, based in Gold River, B.C., is facing astronomical prices when trying to ship with other couriers.

For instance, she said she recently paid about $17 to ship a package to Parksville, B.C. through Canada Post. To get an idea of what could lie ahead in the next few weeks, Forbes also sought quotes for the same package from other companies she said they came back at $95 and $31.

In another example, she said a recent package to Alaska with Canada Post cost her about $31, whereas with other companies it would cost $385 or $107.

"Even the $107 just becomes prohibitive," she said.

John Hamilton, a Canada Post spokesperson, said the company is "incredibly disappointed" by the postal worker strike. In a statement to CBC News, he acknowledged that rural communities in particular will feel the strain.

Stephen Gale, the B.C. representative for the Canadian Union for Postal Workers (CUPW), said they have been in negotiations with Canada Post for a year, but haven't landed on a deal that they feel is fair.Workers want safer working conditions and wages that keep up with inflation, Gale said.

"Working for a Crown corporation, we should be leading the way, and not get into a race to the bottom."

Canada Post says it lost $490 million in the first half of 2024, part of a total $3 billion lost since 2018. The company says a strike will only further contribute to its dire financial circumstances, and that the union's demands will lead to more fixed costs that Canada Post can't afford.

Meanwhile, CUPW representatives say that the Crown corporation's executives are still accepting bonuses, and that the company can dig itself out of its financial situation by offering expanded services to Canadians.

Gale added that the company's losses are not due to wages but, according to him,other business decisions.

As of Friday, the federal government has said it does not have plans to intervene in the strike.