How much money Manitoba small businesses are losing because of the Canada Post strike

As the Canada Post strike continues on, small businesses in Canada are feeling the financial pinch as their main resource for sending items or receiving payments has been halted.

New numbers from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) show small businesses throughout the country are losing $76 million a day because of the strike, and the total losses will hit $1 billion by Wednesday.

“We know this is due to businesses losing out on sales. They’re unable to ship goods to their customers. Many of them have not been able to receive inventory, and they also can’t receive paychecks,” said Brianna Solberg, the director of provincial affairs with CFIB.

“I think if it drags on any further, businesses will have missed out on the busiest holiday shopping season where they expect to make a significant portion of their revenue.”

Looking at Manitoba specifically, CFIB calculates small and medium-sized businesses in our province have lost $34.3 million – around $2,500 per business. Some businesses have even reported losing more than that.

In total, CFIB found that 77 per cent of small businesses in Manitoba are impacted in some way.

“It’s definitely a significant number,” said Solberg. “I think that it’s not necessarily surprising given that eight in 10 businesses still rely on Canada Post in some way or another, whether that’s to ship products to customers or to receive payments from customers, to file their taxes, to send their employees their paychecks.”

Solberg noted this hurts rural businesses even more as they may not have access to other shipping companies, and they would strictly rely on Canada Post.

“For everybody else who’s tried to switch to other carriers, that comes at a significant cost, and ultimately it’s either they pass that cost on to their customers or they eat that cost.”

Solberg believes some businesses may have to think hard about whether to return to Canada Post once the labour stoppage ends, especially since the strike has meant missing both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“We knew Canada Post was kind of already in a curious financial situation before this, and I think businesses will have to consider whether they go back to Canada Post or they stick with whoever they had to switch to during this labour stoppage.”

As for the consumer, Solberg reminds people to choose compassion over convenience when shopping this holiday season.

She said out of every dollar spent at a local business, 66 cents stays in the local economy, compared to just 11 cents per dollar with a multinational chain or big box store.

“Any chance that you get to support a local small business, that would mean the world to them. I’m sure a lot of them would love to see consumers come out in person and do their shopping.”