Canada Post says it is preparing for “a Christmas season like no other” and recommends people start their holiday shopping early.
The corporation said Thursday that it expects the “rapid escalation” of parcel deliveries seen during COVID-19, as more people shopped online, to continue through the holidays and beyond.
A survey conducted for Canada Post in June showed that 48 per cent of Canadian shoppers plan on shopping mostly, or exclusively, online this Christmas. Furthermore, 54 per cent were open to begin their holiday shopping in October or early November.
“Shopping early and spreading out purchases is key to avoiding the traditional short-term surge in online holiday shopping,” the corporation said in a statement.
“With the expected volumes, the addition of a traditional holiday parcel surge has the potential to overwhelm capacity and cause significant delays.”
In order to scale up operations, Canada Post will be rolling out its 2020 Holiday peak season plan, which includes hiring more than 4,000 temporary seasonal employees and increasing its fleet by more than 1,000 vehicles.
Deliveries will also be done on weekends in “many communities,” while more parcel pickup locations will be added and post office hours extended, according to the corporation.
“Even with plans to upscale, add capacity and work with customers, a traditional holiday parcel surge combined with unprecedented volumes could overwhelm our capacity to process and deliver across the country,” said Canada Post.
Shopping early will help Canadians avoid disappointment, support businesses across the country, as well as spread out the expected demand and avoid the Christmas capacity crunch, according to the corporation.
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