You’ve probably been staring at an empty mailbox or a "pending" tracking status for what feels like forever. It’s frustrating. Honestly, the back-and-forth between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been a total rollercoaster over the last two years. If you’re asking is Canada Post strike over, the short answer is: yes, for now, but there is a big "but" attached to that.
Right now, as of mid-January 2026, the pickets are gone. The mail is moving. But the drama isn’t technically "finished" until the workers actually sign on the dotted line. Here is the deal: just before the holidays in late 2025, the two sides finally reached a tentative agreement. This followed a massive, disruptive strike that kicked off in September 2025 after the government tried to pull some pretty heavy-handed reforms, like ending door-to-door delivery for millions of people.
Is Canada Post strike over and can I trust my mail delivery?
Basically, we are in a "cooling off" period that looks a lot like peace. The union and the Crown corporation shook hands on a five-year deal on December 22, 2025. Because of this agreement in principle, both sides promised there wouldn't be any more strikes or lockouts while the 55,000 postal workers look over the fine print.
Ratification votes are happening right now in early 2026.
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If the members say "yes," we are golden until 2029. If they say "no"—which has happened before, like back in August 2025—then things could get messy again. But for today, your Amazon packages and those lingering bills are safe to send.
What is actually in the new deal?
It wasn't just about money, although that's always a huge part of it. Canada Post is bleeding cash—we’re talking billions in losses—and they wanted to change how the whole system works.
- Wages: Workers are looking at a 6.5% raise in the first year. After that, it’s 3% in year two, and then it’s indexed to inflation for the final three years.
- The Weekend Shift: This was a massive sticking point. Canada Post wanted to deliver parcels seven days a week without paying everyone massive overtime. The new deal creates a "weekend parcel delivery model" to keep up with companies like Amazon and FedEx.
- Job Security: CUPW fought hard to keep the defined benefit pension and protected about 393 corporate post offices from being shut down.
- Hourly Pay: For the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC), they are finally moving to an hourly rate of pay, which is a huge shift from how they used to be compensated.
Why the 2025 strike felt different
If you remember the 2024 strike, it felt like a standard labor dispute. But the one that started in September 2025 was way more intense. Why? Because the federal government basically told Canada Post it had to "modernize or die."
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They authorized the end of door-to-door delivery for the remaining four million households that still have it. They talked about lifting the moratorium on closing rural post offices. The union saw this as an existential threat. They didn't just strike for more money; they struck to keep the "post" in Canada Post.
Jan Simpson, the CUPW National President, has been pretty vocal about the fact that postal workers feel they are the ones holding the service together while management tries to cut their way to profitability. On the flip side, Canada Post is staring at a $1.5 billion loss for 2025 alone. They literally ran out of the $1 billion federal loan they got at the start of last year.
The backlog is mostly gone, but...
Don't expect your mail to arrive with lightning speed just yet. Every time there is a work stoppage, the warehouses get jammed. Even though the national strike was suspended and moved to "rotating" status in October 2025 before the full pause in December, the system is still catching up.
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If you are waiting on a passport or a birth certificate, those are moving through "alternate" streams usually, but standard letter mail is still the lowest priority in a recovery phase.
What you should do right now
Honestly, the best move is to act like the strike could come back, just in case the ratification vote fails later this month. Most people get caught off guard because they assume a "tentative deal" is a "final deal." It isn't.
- Stick to Direct Deposit: If you’re still getting CRA cheques or OAS payments by mail, stop. Seriously. 98% of people are already on direct deposit for a reason.
- Digital Bills only: If you haven't switched your utilities or credit card statements to paperless, do it today. You don't want a late fee just because a ratification vote went sideways and the mail stopped for another week.
- Check the CUPW and Canada Post websites: They both have "Negotiations Hub" pages. If you see the word "Ratified," you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you see "Rejected," go buy some extra stamps and ship your packages early.
The "existential crisis" William Kaplan mentioned in his 162-page report on the postal service hasn't gone away. Even with a deal, Canada Post has to figure out how to stop losing money in a world where nobody sends letters anymore. This deal buys them time, but the underlying tension between a public service and a profitable business remains.
For now, the mail trucks are on the road. Enjoy the reliability while the ink on the contract is still drying.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your My Service Canada Account (MSCA) to ensure your contact info and direct deposit are up to date.
- Verify the status of any high-value shipments using the Canada Post tracking tool, as some regional sorting hubs are still reporting minor delays from the holiday volume.
- Monitor news updates for the final ratification vote results, expected by the end of January 2026.