Holiday donations take a hit amid Canada Post strike

Postal strike impacts holiday donations Holiday donations are down at local charities amid the ongoing Canada Post strike.

The Canada Post labour strike reached the 25-day-mark on Monday, bleeding into the holiday season and impacting local branches of major charities that rely on mail service to receive donations.

According to the Salvation Army of Canada, holiday donations are down 50 per cent since the beginning of the strike.

Nathan Sykes, executive director of the Barrie branch, says between 15 and 20 per cent of their holiday donations are processed by mail.

“This is usually a very popular time of year for us to receive donations through the mail for the holiday season and we’ve definitely seen a decline,” said Sykes.

A similar impact is being felt at Barrie and District Christmas Cheer.

As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $115,000 of its $450,000 goal.

But with a record 1,900 donation applications and the unknowns of the strike, the campaign’s staff are feeling the clock winding down.

“We have cheques in the mail that we are waiting for. We don’t know when they’re going to get here, we don’t know if they’re going to get here,” said Sandra Yaquo, Barrie and District Christmas Cheer president. “We need donations now more than ever. Our board is working harder than ever because we literally have a board member in each city doing pickups for cheques that we can’t put in the mail this year.”

At the Barrie Food Bank, executive director Karen Shuh says nearly 40 per cent of their holiday donations come in the mail.

“Our risk is now closer to $477,000 of cheques that we would normally receive this time of year that have not come in,” said Shuh.

The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre also acknowledged the impacts of the strike, stating in a statement to CTV News, “The Canada Post strike has made it challenging for RVH Foundation to connect with the community, impacting donations that directly support patient care.”

On the other hand, some mail alternatives have yielded positive results.

Sykes says the Salvation Army has seen an uptick in cheques being dropped off in their 21 kettles that are in stores across Barrie and Innisfil.

“Our fundraising target for this year for our kettle campaign is $550,000,” said Sykes. “As of right now, we’re pretty close to that target.”

But while other charities have been pushing for donations to be sent electronically, it has not been a full proof solution.

“There’s a lot of our donors who are 65-plus who rely on the services of the Canada Post,” said Shuh.

“A lot of our seniors are not comfortable with technology,” said Yaquo. “They’re basically saying to us, either you come pick up this cheque or we can’t get it to you.”

Another challenge Shuh spoke about was tax receipts.

She says tax receipts are processed by the day they are received and not the day they are sent, which means donations that are delivered by mail in December but not opened until the new year cannot be written off for 2024.