'A tremendous inconvenience': Rural communities prepare for potential postal disruptions
CTV
The inability to send and receive letter mail won’t be the main pitfall of a service disruption. The biggest concern for rural communities will be parcel delivery. Small communities often rely on online deliveries for items they cannot find locally.
Rural communities have the most to lose if Canada Post services are disrupted.
In the small coastal town of Bonavista, N.L., community members rely heavily on Canada Post, according to former mayor Betty Fitzgerald.
The town has a few other private couriers that service the community. But on any given day, it’s the post office that is inundated with parcels, Fitzgerald said. The volume of deliveries is even higher around the holidays.
“With Christmas coming up and the cost of living the way it is today, they're looking for ways to buy cheaper than they did before and online seems to be the way right now,” Fitzgerald said.
“But now they're afraid to order because of the mail strike that could be coming.”
In rural Saskatchewan, it’s not uncommon to find the post office attached to the general store.
That’s the case in Osler, Sask., about a 25-minute drive north of Saskatoon.
