Following a strike announcement by the union representing Canada Post workers, cannabis companies in Canada say they are taking steps to ensure customers can still receive their cannabis orders. 

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced on November 15 that more than 55,000 postal workers in Canada were going on strike, asking for, among other things, fair wages and a safe working environment. 

Canada Post will not be processing or delivering mail, and new items will not be accepted until the strike ends.

Impact on delivery

The shutdown will affect many businesses and services in Canada, including companies and retailers that ship cannabis products across the country. In Canada, the primary way people receive cannabis for medical purposes is by ordering directly from producers or third-party distributors who often use Canada Post or Purolator to get their products to medical patients. 

Many non-medical retailers, including provincially-run cannabis stores, also often rely on Canada Post to deliver orders to customers. 

A spokesperson for Tilray, a medical cannabis provider in Canada, tells StratCann that the company has plans to find new shipping options for patients. 

“Tilray acknowledges the ongoing Canada Post strike and its potential impact on our patients’ access to medical cannabis. We recognize that our patients depend on a reliable supply of medicine, and we are taking proactive measures to ensure their well-being is prioritized during this time.

“To minimize any potential disruptions, Tilray will be utilizing alternative shipping methods to ensure that our patients continue to receive their much-needed medication. Our team understands the importance of timely delivery, and we are committed to ensuring that our patients receive their medical cannabis orders without interruption. We want to reassure our patients that there will be no incremental cost to them for this service.”

A media representative with the SQDC in Quebec, which is the only legal non-medical online cannabis seller in the province, says most of its customers can utilize same-day delivery to avoid any delays due to the strike. 

“We hope Canada Post and their workers will find a settlement that will suit them both,” the representative tells StratCann, noting that only six percent of the SQDC’s sales are made online.  

“Of those transactions, 20% of our delivery won’t be covered by other delivery options, but there still may be a store nearby….SQDC already offers a 90-minutes or same-day delivery service to several areas. We encourage our customers to rely on those services or to pick up their products at their nearest stores (click and collect).”

Chester Ku-Lea, the head of marketing at Herbal Dispatch, a medical cannabis provider located in BC, says the company is in the process of taking steps to create shipping alternatives, including using FedEx. 

He says they were aware the strike was a possibility, but the company was caught off guard by the nature of the strike and its immediate impact across Canada. The expectation, he adds, is that Canada Post would use rolling or rotating strikes. In the event of rotating strikes, Canada Post would continue processing and delivering packages in areas where there was no strike. Today’s announcement, however, was for a full nationwide job action. 

“What caught us by surprise is that when there’s a strike notice it’s usually a rolling strike so services are delayed rather than closed, so that was news to us. We expected a rolling strike.” 

A notice on Aurora Cannabis’ medical cannabis portal says that all patient orders have now defaulted to Purolator for delivery due to the strike. Patients will need to ensure they have a physical address to mail to, not a PO Box. 

The union representing Purolator workers has said they will not handle mail that originated with Canada Post in an act of solidarity. However, shipments can be placed through Purolator without first going through Canada Post. Purolator is a subsidiary of Canada Post.

FedEx is not involved in the strike.

A representative with OCS says tat the majority of sales placed at OCS.ca are serviced by their Domain Express delivery service, and these areas will not experience any disruption.

“However, due to the Canada Post strike, the OCS is currently unable to ship OCS.ca orders to some locations,” they added in an email to StratCann. “We’re evaluating whether it is possible for Domain Express to take on additional deliveries while Canada Post services are paused.”

A representative for the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) tells StratCann via email that the agency is advising BC Cannabis store online store customers that there will be delays in receiving customer orders that are shipped via Canada Post. The BCCS Customer Care Centre is also contacting customers directly to notify them of impacted shipments, they add.

This article has been edited to include comment from OCS and the BCLDB.

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