Canada Post is still trying to tackle a backlog of undelivered letters and packages that piled up during a labour dispute last month.
The Crown corporation is hoping to clear a backlog of 40 million letters by the end of next week, said spokeswoman Anick Losier.
Until then, Canada Post is asking corporate "large volume mailers" to hold onto their mail because postal facilities don't have the space to handle it, Losier told CP24 Friday morning.
Mail delivery in Canada was brought to a halt after postal workers were locked out June 14, almost two weeks after they began rotating strikes in cities across the country.
The lockout lasted several weeks until employees were forced to return to work on June 28 after the federal government passed back-to-work legislation.
To catch up on mail delivery, sorting machines in facilities across the country are running 24 hours a day and some carriers are now being allowed to work overtime to deliver more mail, Losier said.
Letter carriers previously complained that they were prevented from working overtime to make a dent in the backlog.
Working through breaks
Joe, a local letter carrier who declined to give his last name, said he has been working without breaks because the backlog is so large.
Joe said he embarks on a shift with so much mail that he only has enough time to deliver half of it.
Losier said Canada Post is adding nine million pieces of mail per day to its delivery operations to get things back to normal.
The labour dispute began after the workers' union and Canada Post were unable to reach a new contract agreement.
The legislation forced workers to accept wages that are lower than what Canada Post was offering.
With a report from Farah Nasser
