Canada Post proposes stamp and letter rate increases

Summary#

This is a proposed change by Canada Post Corporation to raise postage rates for domestic and international letter mail. The proposal, published in the Canada Gazette on September 7, 2024, would take effect on January 13, 2025 if approved; there is a public comment period of 30 days after publication.

What it does#

• Changes to regulations: amends the Letter Mail Regulations, the International Letter-post Items Regulations and the Special Services and Fees Regulations to raise many letter-post prices.
• Main domestic increases (examples):
  • Single stamp for a letter up to 30 g: $1.15 → $1.44 (purchase at retail counter).
  • Stamp in booklet/coil/pane for up to 30 g: $0.99 → $1.24.
  • Registered Mail in Canada: $10.50 → $13.15.
• Main international increases (examples):
  • Letter to the United States up to 30 g: $1.40 → $1.75.
  • Letter to other countries up to 30 g: $2.92 → $3.65.
• Overall size: the changes represent a weighted average increase of about 25.2% across regulated letter products.
• Timing and status: these are proposed regulations published for comment and, if finalized, would come into force on January 13, 2025.

Who's affected#

• All Canadians who buy stamps or send letters. Canada Post estimates the average household impact at about $2.26 per year.
• Small businesses that use stamps: estimated average impact of about $42.17 per year for those that buy postage.
• People and communities that rely more on physical mail, including those in rural areas, Indigenous communities, and seniors (age 65+). Canada Post’s analysis finds slightly higher per-household spending on stamps in those groups.
• Canada Post Corporation would receive more revenue from the change — estimated additional gross revenue of $78.4 million in 2025 and a present-value revenue increase of $516.2 million over 10 years (2025–2034), according to the filing.

Why it matters#

• Financial context: Canada Post says letter volumes fell about 60% since 2006 while the number of delivery addresses rose (over 200,000 new addresses a year). The corporation reported cumulative losses of more than $3 billion from 2018 through 2023. The rate increases are meant to help cover rising delivery costs and keep the postal network operating.
• Practical effects: for most households the price change is small in dollar terms, but it raises the cost of sending and receiving physical letters and some services like Registered Mail. For some groups (rural, Indigenous, seniors, some small businesses) the effect is larger.
• Process note: this is a proposal published for comment, not final law. Interested people have 30 days from the Canada Gazette publication to make representations. The proposal includes detailed cost/benefit and distributional analysis supplied by Canada Post.