As Canada Post faces a decline of 2.8 million fewer pieces of mail per day the company has decided to charge a $200 fee per new list address to developers to cover the cost of community mailboxes.
The measure may help the postal service balance the budget, just don't expect homebuilders to be too thrilled about it.
“To me it seems like a lot of money for each additional mailbox,” said Audrey Corry, project coordinator with Malibu Communities, the company developing the Hazelwood Estates area. “It seems somewhat unfair.”
Corry says the company will have to consider whether to absorb the cost or to pass the fee along to the homebuyer.
“Obviously it increases our costs,” she said. “As soon as it increases our costs we're looking at what it does to our list price.”
Lisa Buckingham, president of Canadian Home Builders' Association for Central Alberta, said residents in Penhold's Hawkridge Estates subdivision have gone two years without even having a community mailbox.
The reasons why Canada Post added the fee are understandable, she says, but noted that ultimately homeowners will be the ones footing the bill.
“We think it isn't fair that new homebuyers have to pay more to get less,” she said. “It's unfair for them to have to pay for a second-rate postal service.”
About 10 years ago the postal service instituted the community mailbox program, indicating no new fees would be tied to the program, Buckingham said.
Anick Losier, a spokesperson for Canada Post, said with drastically declining revenues they were left with little choice.
“We're just in a financial situation where we cannot pay for it ourselves,” she said of the community mailboxes, noting Canada Post will still maintain the boxes and perform snow removal.”
Installing mailboxes should be considered similar to putting in other services such as fiber optic network cables, sewer and water and should be handled by the developer, she added.
Last year, 7,746 Canada Post employees received performance bonuses, though Losier said the actual amount is a protected trade secret.
Because e-commerce only accounts for two per cent of GDP in Canada, compared with about eight per cent in the U.S., there is potential for revenue growth for the crown corporation, she said.
“There's not a computer in sight that can deliver a parcel,” she said. “I think this is part of a new Canada Post. I know it sounds grand but people will still expect their mail tomorrow.”
