Canada Post strike will delay letters to Santa this year

For the past 40 years, Canada Post says it's been helping deliver millions of letters from all the good little girls and boys to Santa Claus.

However, the Crown corporation says this year's nationwide postal strike will make it difficult to keep up with the arrangement.

"(The Canadian Union of Postal Workers) has shut down the postal service with a national strike, and as a result, we are unable to get mail to and from Santa in the North Pole," Canada Post spokesperson Lisa Liu told CTV News in an email on Wednesday.

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Liu said Canada Post typically begins receiving letters destined for the North Pole in mid-to-late November, making the timing of the strike a challenge for all of its Christmas operations.

"It is our hope that postal operations can resume as quickly as possible at this critical time for customers," Liu said.

"When operations do resume, we will help Santa by delivering a response to every letter sent to him this year."

About 55,000 members of CUPW have been on strike since Nov. 15, shutting down operations and halting deliveries of mail and parcels.

In the most recent update to strike negotiations, officials said progress was being made on some smaller issues, but there is "still a lot of ground to cover."

"After 12 months of discussions, the employer finally began to move on the pressing issues. Resolving these issues could pave the way to agreements," union president Jan Simpson said in an update to members Tuesday.

"The urban unit will find out if there is movement on their side."

Canada Post workers picket outside a sorting plant in Montreal on Nov.15, 2024. (Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press)

According to a recent Leger poll, 57 per cent of Canadians are in favour of the federal government stepping in to end the strike. Twenty-one per cent said Ottawa should let negotiations continue while 22 per cent said they didn't know.

Last Friday, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon ruled out any early federal intervention to end the labour dispute.

In the same poll, 61 per cent of Canadians were worried about disruptions to mail services and 57 per cent were concerned over delivery delays over the holiday season.

Millions of Santa letters delivered each year

In 2023, Canada Post helped Santa Claus by delivering 1.4 million letters from around the world.

"It's a big effort and a great source of pride for everyone at Canada Post," Liu said.

The service usually handles between 1.2 and 1.5 million letters annually and has delivered replies for more than 45 million letters since its inception.

(With files from the Canadian Press)