Post office more than just Santa’s helpers at this point
Always busy at Christmas, Canada Post expects record volumes this year as e-commerce shipping volumes rise
WITH JUST OVER THREE weeks until kids rush to see what Santa Claus left under the tree, postal workers are scrambling to make sure presents arrive on time for Dec. 25.
Mary Cochrane is a member of Canada Post’s Mom Squad, which helps Canadians with their Christmas shipping questions and concerns. She grew up in Waterloo and has family in Conestogo, so she knows how hectic the holiday season can be in the area.
Across Canada, the national delivery service gets Canada Post employees ready to help Santa deliver all the presents in the mail in time for Christmas morning.
“We know this is going to be a record-breaking holiday season and we are excited to be part of the overall experience,” she said from her office in Toronto. “We hire about 2,500 additional seasonal workers to help our 49,000 postal operation employees get the extra parcels to customers in time. We also arrange to have up to 900 vehicles to help with delivery. The reindeer and the elves need a hand.”
Across the country, Canada Post employees are expecting to deliver a million packages a day starting this week, all the way up until Christmas Eve.
“To give you some context, in 2012, we only had two days where we delivered a million packages and we thought that was amazing and the greatest thing ever,” said Cochrane. “But now, for the next three and a half weeks, we expect to be delivering a million packages a day, five days a week. We already anticipate that we will be delivering seven million more parcels than we did in 2015.”
It isn’t just the big city post offices that are going above and beyond this year. At the Elmira Canada Post office, employees are adding extra days to their delivery schedule, bringing packages to people’s doorsteps on Sundays. They are also adding a few extra hours to their daily hours to accommodate the expected holiday rush.
Cochrane says Christmas presents aren’t the only pieces of mail making their way through the post office this year. Kids across the country are putting pen to paper, asking for their favourite toy or game for Christmas this year. Canada Post handles an average of one million letters to Santa each year, and as long as the letter has a return address, everyone gets a response.
“We delivered 1.5 million responses last year. It
filled 2,500 mail bags in 2015. Since the program began, we have answered more than 26.2 million letters.”
Area residents will have their own chance to send a note to Santa and Mrs. Claus this weekend. Canada Post will be in the Elmira Santa Claus Parade on Dec. 3, with big bags destined for the North Pole.
“Some of the top questions that we get are, “why are you so old?” a lot ask about Mrs. Claus and the reindeer and the elves, others ask about Santa’s favourite food, a lot of them ask how he gets around the world in one night, and my favourite, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” I think they are hoping for one last chance,” said Cochrane with a laugh. “We love playing that role of Santa’s elves, lending him a hand and helping out.”
Letters to Santa can be sent to: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
They don’t need postage stamps to get there, and Canada Post asks that all letters be put in the mail by Dec. 14 to give Santa and his Canada Post elves a chance to respond in time for Christmas.
For parcel and Christmas present delivery, Canada Post has a soft deadline of Dec. 18 for delivery between major Canadian cities before Christmas. Some online retailers have extended deadlines, all the way until Dec. 22.