No changes to rural mailboxes, Canada Post says

Canada Post says rural residents with individual roadside mailboxes will continue to receive home mail delivery for the foreseeable future.

The Crown corporation recently announced that delivery to about four million addresses will be sent to community mailboxes instead, part of a plan that also includes phasing out some post offices.

The change is expected to take about five years.

Several rural communities had expressed concern that the shift could potentially require residents to travel several kilometres to get their mail.

About 700,000 homes have rural mailboxes, accounting for approximately four per cent of the 17.8 million addresses served by Canada Post.

The Crown corporation said in a statement that rural addresses won't be affected by the plan to reduce home delivery, at least for now.

"For now, people who already receive their mail via rural mailboxes will see no change," the statement said. "These addresses are not part of the initial announcement targeting the four million addresses that still receive home delivery and will eventually be converted to community mailboxes.”

Canada Post has said 73 per cent of addresses in Canada are already served by community mailboxes, post office boxes, or mailboxes grouped in multi-unit residential buildings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

By Pierre Saint-Arnaud | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.