Canada Post hiring more staff, adding pickup locations ahead of holidays

Canada Post is gearing up for the holidays to prepare for the millions of parcels that will flow through its facilities over the coming weeks.

Last year, the postal agency delivered over 20 million packages in just the two weeks leading up to Christmas, with 2.4 million on Dec. 21 alone.

Thanks to increased online shopping during the pandemic, the agency is anticipating similar parcel volumes this year.

To make sure your parcel or card gets to its destination in time for the holidays, the mail company advises sending items on or before the prescribed deadlines, the earliest of which is Dec. 9 for a “regular parcel” travelling nationally.

To keep up with the influx, Canada Post will be hiring thousands of seasonal workers, adding more vehicles to its fleet and leveraging new sortation capacity recently added in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Kitchener, Montreal and Moncton.

By the numbers:

• Additional seasonal staff to be hired: 4,200
• Additional vehicles to be added to the fleet of 13,000: 1,400
• Additional parking spots for extra trailers: 2,000

You may have also received a flyer from Canada Post in your mailbox recently that informed you to check your delivery notices carefully, as your local parcel pickup location may be changing temporarily.

More pickup locations have been added to the postal service’s retail network in major urban areas and some other smaller markets.

A Canada Post flyer informs customers of new temporary parcel pickup locations. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman

The move will “make it easier for our customers to pick up their parcels and ease congestion and lineups for holiday parcel pickup at some of our busier post offices,” agency staff said.

The temporary locations will be open from now to the end of January.

CityNews reached out to Canada Post for a full list of additional pickup locations and is awaiting a response.