Canada Post and the union representing about 55,000 postal workers have reached a tentative agreement to end a strike that has disrupted deliveries across the country.
Details of the deal were not disclosed, but the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said all parties had “agreed on the basics” and the strike was suspended.
“We need to agree on contract language that will form collective agreements that will be voted on by members,” the union said, adding that it would “retain the right to strike.”
The nationwide strike began on September 25 and then became a rolling strike amid an ongoing dispute over postal workers' pay and benefits.
Canada Post also confirmed that an agreement had been reached pending a union vote, saying: “While this is being done, it has been agreed that all strikes and lockout activities are suspended.”
The union and the Postal Service have been negotiating for nearly two years.
In September, the strike began hours after the federal government announced it would allow major changes to Canada Post.
Proposed new measures included ending door-to-door letter delivery to around four million homes, allowing non-urgent letters to be delivered by land rather than air, closing some former rural post offices and giving the service more flexibility to raise prices.
The government says the changes are necessary to stop Canada Post from losing so much money. Canada Post lost C$1 billion ($717; £535 million) last year and is on track to lose C$1.5 billion this year, according to government data.
The Canadian Postal Service, like Britain's Royal Mail and the United States Postal Service, has faced a sharp decline in the volume of mail delivered and subsequent financial shortfalls in recent decades.
The company's three main sources of revenue – letters, mail and parcels – are in decline, either due to lack of demand or stiff competition from other courier services.
Postal workers previously went on strike in November 2024 over pay and working conditions.
Last December, ahead of the busy holiday season, Canadian government orders postal workers to return to work.
