Canada Post’s finances have deteriorated into a chronic fiscal crisis that continues to cost Canadian taxpayers billions, and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is sounding the alarm. In early 2026, the federal government announced up to $1.01 billion in repayable funding to Canada Post, a Crown corporation that has now reported seven consecutive years of losses and faces mounting competition and declining mail volumes. This latest federal financing follows a $1.03 billion government loan in January 2025 and comes as Parliament debates the broader sustainability of state-owned enterprises.

The CTF, a self-described taxpayer advocacy group, issued a statement sharply criticizing Ottawa’s decision to backstop Canada Post again. “The government shouldn’t bail out Canada Post with taxpayers’ money,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF. “The last billion-dollar bailout didn’t solve anything at Canada Post so why would another billion-dollar bailout be any different?” Terrazzano noted that the earlier funding was intended as temporary support but did not halt the corporation’s slide toward insolvency.

Canada Post itself has outlined the scale of its financial challenges. In 2025 the corporation recorded an unprecedented $541 million loss before tax in the third quarter, with labour disruptions and a sharp decline in parcel market share cited as key drivers. Since 2018, cumulative operating losses exceed $5.5 billion, and the company’s parcel market share has fallen below 24 per cent, down sharply from levels above 60 per cent in recent years.

Those trends matter because the Crown corporation is legally required to fund its operations through revenue from services rather than direct taxpayer support. Yet Ottawa’s repeated infusions — structured as “repayable” loans — effectively place taxpayers on the hook for a failing business model. Terrazzano argued that Canada Post’s recurring reliance on federal financing signals deeper dysfunction: “The government needs to sell Canada Post or the Crown corporation needs to figure out how to survive without relying on taxpayer bailouts.”

Critics outside the CTF also point to structural issues. The steep decline in letter mail volumes — from more than 5 billion pieces annually to around 2 billion — combined with fierce competition in parcel delivery has gutted traditional revenue streams, forcing Canada Post to operate in a vastly different market than it faced even a decade ago. Labour uncertainty, highlighted by prolonged negotiations and strikes, has exacerbated financial pressures, further eroding customer confidence.

While Canada Post and the federal government frame the new funding as a short-term bridge to allow the corporation to implement reforms and stabilize operations, the CTF insists that repeating the same policy response will not yield different results. As Terrazzano put it, “taxpayers can’t afford to bail out every Crown corporation that goes to Ottawa begging for more money.”

The debate over Canada Post’s future — including calls to rethink its mandate, consider privatization, or radically alter delivery standards — is likely to intensify as politicians and taxpayer advocates grapple with the fiscal and operational realities of a foundational public service in decline.