On Monday morning of this week, one day after a second blast of snow in the GTA, several Canada Post employees shovelled out their vehicles at home and made their way to work at the Letter Carrier Depot on Commissioners Street in Toronto to begin delivery.
When they got there, they noticed a huge problem.
“The plow service hired by Canada Post never showed up,” a worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told Speakers Corner. “Letter carriers showed up, sorted the mail, and waited until noon, then were sent home.”
The next morning, workers again showed up.
“We still couldn’t get out, which is kind of shocking,” the employee said. “To the best of my knowledge this hasn’t happened before. When we had a big storm a few years ago, the lot was cleared the next day with minimal disruption.”
The worker said delivery delays are expected following a storm of this size, but usually due to trucks not being able to access certain neighbourhoods due to the snow pileup.
But the employee said Canada Post didn’t get the lot plowed so they couldn’t even leave the depot to deliver anything on Monday.
“The contractor just didn’t get the job done.”
Snow removal crews were finally dispatched by late Tuesday morning, more than 24 hours after the snow stopped falling. Just before midday, trucks were seen leaving the facility to begin delivery but the worker said they are now playing catch up.
Toronto resident Bruce Bradshaw, is one of several people impacted by the delivery delays.
“It sounds like a logistical failure,” he said. “But I think a lot of us are still concerned about the strike and the consequences of the strike. We went so long without postal service that we’re getting to the point where we expect failures.”
But Canada Post is far from being alone. Several other services across the GTA have been interrupted or delayed due to the storm.
“We are trying our best to have all our letter carrier depot facilities cleared and available,” a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“We appreciate the eagerness of our delivery team to want to get out and deliver and serve our customers. But we are facing the same challenges as everyone, the City cleaning crews included, in dealing with the incredible snow accumulation over the past few days.”
The spokesperson did not say if they’re investigating why the service they hire to clear this lot took so long to arrive. They also don’t publicly release the name of the contractor they paid to do it.
Canada Post says they’ve kept customers updated with their alert system, which is posted publicly on its website. As of Thursday, a yellow alert remains active for residents in Toronto — meaning mail delivery maybe “delayed.”
But Monday, carriers who work out of the Commissioners Street facility, one of several across the GTA, say mail was suspended all together, which usually triggers a red alert. No such alert was posted to the public on Monday.
“Yellow alert indicates we are doing our best throughout the region identified but there may be delays. And those delays might mean mail can only be delivered the next day if conditions warrant it,” the Canada Post spokesperson said in response.
“We do not issue micro alerts for streets or neighbourhoods. Our employees take all their mail out for delivery and do their best to deliver where it is safe and accessible.”
The spokesperson said they are now working to get mail moving as quickly as possible.
“As any situation evolves, customers are encouraged to check Canada Post’s website, Service Alerts, for regular updates if they are affected.”
If you have an issue, story or question you’d like us to investigate contact us.