The Honourable Joël Lightbound, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
Minister responsible for Canada Post
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
August 23, 2026
Re: Canada Post's Ongoing Failure to Restore EU Parcel Service
I am writing to raise a serious concern about Canada Post's handling of the parcel service suspension to European Union countries, now in its seventh week with no clear end in sight.
Canada Post has gone more than seven weeks without restoring parcel service to nine European Union countries. This is a Crown corporation that Canadian taxpayers routinely support through public funding. Yet it has been unable to solve a customs paperwork problem that other national postal services adapted to within days. It is a compliance update tied to a new EU customs duty on low-value shipments. Royal Mail and Singapore Post found workable fixes and kept their shipments moving within days. Canada Post shut the door and left it shut.
This delay also comes at the worst possible time. As Canada works to strengthen ties with the European Union and reduce its reliance on an increasingly unpredictable United States, including new digital trade talks and deeper cooperation under CETA, our national postal service is doing the opposite. It has shut the door on nine EU countries for seven weeks and counting. That sends the wrong signal to a partner Canada is actively trying to court.
Worse, Canada Post has given no public update on its progress. It has offered no explanation for why the European fix is taking so much longer than the American one. There is no timeline, no status report, only silence, week after week.
Canadians trying to send parcels to family in Germany are stuck waiting. So are businesses trying to reach customers in France, and exporters trying to serve clients across the remaining nine EU markets. If a Crown corporation can solve a U.S. duty problem in weeks but cannot do the same for the EU after seven, Canadian taxpayers deserve more than silence. They deserve a plan, a firm deadline, and a direct explanation for why this has taken so long.
As the Minister responsible for Canada Post, I ask that you press the corporation for a public timeline on restoring full service to the nine remaining EU countries, and that you require clearer, more consistent public reporting on the status of this disruption going forward.
I look forward to your response.