Canada Post is selling pieces of itself to save money — the experts say that won't be enough

Canada Post is selling off its IT and logistics departments, a move business experts say is an essential first step in saving a Crown corporation that lost more than half a billion dollars in 2022.

«Canada Post is disappearing before our eyes,» said Ian Lee, a business professor at Carleton University in Ottawa who has researched the decline of Canada Post.

«They're starting to restructure because they're starting to finally face that reality.»

Last week, Canada Post announced it will sell its in-house IT business, Innovapost, to Deloitte Canada. As part of the outsourcing deal, Canada Post will maintain an IT leadership team while most of Innovapost's 750 person workforce is absorbed by Deloitte.

«It was determined the current shared-service model was not providing the speed and agility needed to compete today and in the future,» said a statement from Canada Post.

That announcement came a week after Canada Post said it would be selling its 3,000 person logistics company.

Canada Post declined CBC's multiple requests for an interview and instead provided a written statement.

«For the last two years, Canada Post has been executing a comprehensive transformation plan focused on serving the changing needs of Canadians and Canadian businesses,» Canada Post spokesperson Janick Cormier wrote.

«The plan positions the company for growth in Canada's e-commerce market while delivering on its core mandate of providing reliable delivery of mail, packages and parcels to every Canadian address.»

The lucrative 'last mile'

Lee said selling off or outsourcing parts of Canada Post's operations won't be enough to save it. In the third quarter of 2023, the company lost a whopping $290 million.

«The future of Canada Post is not in pretending that they