Canada Post recorded a $277-million loss before tax in the second quarter of 2026, marking an improvement over the same period last year as recent labour stability helped drive an early recovery in parcel delivery.
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The Crown corporation’s second-quarter results show a $130-million improvement over the $407-million loss reported in Q2 2025, a period heavily impacted by uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). The two sides ratified new collective agreements in June, set to run through January 2029.
Despite the quarterly progress, Canada Post’s pre-tax loss for the first six months of 2026 reached $482 million, up from $448 million in the first half of 2025.
Second-quarter revenue rose 1.5 per cent year-over-year to $1.5 billion, boosted by a 20.7 per cent surge in parcel revenue as shipping volumes increased by 15.6 per cent. Total revenue for the first half of the year, however, fell 7 per cent to $2.1 billion.
“The company remains focused on rebuilding customer trust, improving service reliability and growing parcel volumes,” Canada Post said in an Aug. 28 release.
Transaction mail revenue dropped 9.1 per cent in the quarter, largely due to strong non-recurring election mailings in 2025 and an ongoing shift toward digital communication.
Total operating costs fell 6.3 per cent in the quarter to $1.7 billion, aided by lower labour costs, higher discount rates on employee benefits, and new operational efficiencies.
To bolster long-term financial sustainability, the postal service plans to convert 621,000 addresses from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes starting in late 2026, as part of a multi-year effort targeting four million addresses nationwide. The corporation is also expanding home parcel pickups and launching weekend deliveries in major urban centres later this year.
The broader Canada Post Group of Companies — which includes Purolator — posted a pre-tax loss of $188 million for the quarter, compared to a $325-million loss a year earlier. Purolator generated an $88-million profit before tax in Q2.
Canada Post noted it continues to rely on repayable federal cash injections to maintain liquidity and prevent insolvency.
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