Manitoba businesses feeling the pinch as Canada Post strike drags on

As the Canada Post strike drags on, local businesses are feeling the pinch during an important time of year.

“Without mail orders, there’s no money coming in,” says Judy Weselowski, owner of a local sports collectibles business. “So, bills keep coming in, but we can’t send anything out.”

Weselowski’s struggle echoes across Manitoba as the Canada Post strike enters its third week, turning what began as an inconvenience into a potential problem for small businesses, especially with the holiday shopping season in full swing.

“To send one or two pucks by courier, you’re looking at probably double what the post office rates would be,” explains Weselowski. Like many other small businesses, she relies on Canada Post for affordable shipping.

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Experts warn that smaller businesses are bearing the burden of the strike’s impact.

“This definitely has disproportionate impacts on smaller businesses who don’t do the volume that it takes to get a discount on higher volume shipping operators,” says Brianna Solberg of Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “The Amazon’s of the world aren’t being hit by this.”

The ripple effects are even hitting local charities.

“We have to raise, before Christmas, over one and a half million dollars to be able to meet the targets we need, and each day that goes by without cheques coming in, it gets further and further behind,” says a Vince Barletta, Harvest Manitoba CEO. “The reality is there’ll be less resources to provide much-needed services to a growing number of Manitobans who rely on Harvest.”

The holiday season, usually a time for businesses to prepare for a slow start to the year, is now a source of anxiety. “Usually, there’s a lull after Christmas where people go, ‘Oh, I spent too much, and now I have to go and save the money to pay the Christmas bills,’” explains Weselowski.

But this year, that post-holiday boost may not be enough to make up for the losses.

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