The last time Post Canada has made profit, it was in 2017. Since that time, the financial losses of the state -owned company has amounts to $ 3.8 billion.
In addition, at the beginning of 2025, the federal government granted a billion dollars to Canada to allow it to maintain its activities.
According to Public Services and Supply Canada, the Crown Corporation would not have been able to meet its operating cash needs without this aid.
This is why, more than 14 years after having published a first economic note on the privatization of Canada Posts, the IEDM is responsible.
“Post Canada, it’s up. […] It does not work absolutely, ”says Gabriel Giguère, senior analyst in public policies for the think thank from Montreal.
The private sector seizes packages
He recognizes that the drop in the volume of letters is a predictable phenomenon, accentuated by the rise of the Internet, emails and texts. But he does not digest the “collapse” of the package delivery service.
IEDM shows that the Canada Post Market share in this sector increased from 62 % in 2019 to 24 % in 2024, for the benefit of private companies.
“This is the case, because there is a rigidity in terms of labor management. The pace and schedules do not allow competition against Amazon’s delivery service, for example, “says Gabriel Giguère.
Moreover, a new strike hangs over the Crown Company and a survey of the Canadian Federation of the Independent Company indicates that almost two thirds of SMEs would definitely stop using the Canada Post Services if that happens.
“The money is exhausted and the management framework is outdated in the current market. It will have to move, otherwise it won’t work, ”says Giguère.
Privatization, then liberalization
What the senior analyst in public policies of the IEDM offers in an economic note published Thursday morning is the privatization of Canada Posts, then the liberalization of the mail market.
“The important privatization will be the method. It shouldn’t take ten years due to bureaucratic capture, but it shouldn’t be done in two months either, “he said.
According to him, privatizing the Crown Company cannot be done without the membership of employees. In a hypothetical first year of transformation, the government would sell, in a symbolic amount, 40 % of postal service shares to its employees.
“We want to create an economic incentive to employees so that the company works well. If we are a shareholder, we want Post Canada to be profitable. And it is to bet that there will be greater agility in the delivery of packages. ”
— Gabriel Giguère, senior analyst in public policies at the Montreal Economic Institute
During the second year and last hypothetical year of change, the general public will be able to buy the other Canada Post shares, as is the case for private companies listed on the stock market.
“We are going to have management as in the private sector, which will have to adapt to the vagaries of the market. […] At the very least, it is certainly a better approach than the current status quo, ”he believes.
While advocating the privatization of the state -owned company, it also pleads for market liberalization, including in the ordinary mail sector.
“If Amazon enters this market, I suppose that people will be delighted to receive their letter at 5 a.m. on Saturday,” he said, with a touch of irony.
Good and less good examples
To support its argument, the IEDM cites the resounding success of Germany, which first privatized Deutsche Post before liberalizing its postal market.
Postal prices have notably dropped by 10 % since 1989, taking into account inflation. While in Canada, the cost of sending a letter increased by 50 % during the same period.
Conversely, the privatization of Royal Mail in the United Kingdom did not have the same success. The postal service accumulates losses of several million dollars each year.
Post Canada is therefore at the crossroads, Gabriel Giguère believes. Crown corporation can continue with the status quo or try to do what the IEDM offers.
The abandoned regions?
This hypothetical transformation of Canada posts still raises questions.
In their economic note, Gabriel Giguère and Vincent Geloso recognize that privatization could disadvantage the distant regions.
Mr. Giguère nevertheless believes that the service would still be offered by the private sector, but at a higher price. Like food products, often more expensive in North-du-Québec.
«Pour [compenser]we could potentially improve a tax credit for people living far in the region, since they will have to take higher costs, ”he says.
Gabriel Giguère recognizes that it is difficult to say if the private sector would accept to deliver ordinary letters in the distant region, since this market does not exist because of the monopoly exerted by Canada Post. However, this does not prevent him from firmly believing in the need to privatize the state -owned company.
