Dear neighbours and supporters,
As a locally owned and operated small business, we’ve done everything possible over the past several weeks, to oppose Canada Post’s decision to close the Vic West postal outlet on October 28, a closure that affects not only our business, but the entire community.
As shared previously, this postal outlet has never been a significant source of profit for us. At best, we break even on its direct operations. The primary benefit to our pharmacy has been the foot traffic it brings, which we had hoped to convert into pharmacy customers.
We’ve also continued to host it because it provides an essential service to our community, especially for seniors, small businesses, and residents with mobility issues or without vehicles.
If the closure goes ahead, we will need to reconfigure the space for another use. While our small business will suffer, the real loss will fall on the community, which will be left without accessible postal service in the heart of Vic West.
Over the past month, we’ve written to Canada Post executives, the Board of Directors, the Minister responsible (Hon. Joël Lightbound) and even the Prime Minister, urging them to intervene. We’ve also reached out to the official opposition leader and parliamentary critics for Public Services and Procurement to ensure this issue is raised across party lines in Ottawa.
Our local MP, Will Greaves, has promised to raise the issue with the Minister, and the story has been featured by Global News, CTV, CFAX, and the Times Colonist. Our petition has now gathered over 600 signatures, showing just how much this outlet means to Vic West.
Today, we’re sharing our Open Letter to the Chair of the Board of Directors of Canada Post, demanding transparency, accountability and a suspension of the closure. You can read that letter below.
Now, with only a short time left before the planned closure, we are asking for your help.
Please take a moment to email the Minister, Canada Post leadership and your local MP to make your voice heard. Every message counts and adds pressure to act.
Key contacts:
· Hon. Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement – joel.lightbound@parl.gc.ca
· Doug Ettinger, President & CEO, Canada Post – doug.ettinger@canadapost.postescanada.ca
· André Hudon, Chair of the Board of Directors, Canada Post – andre.hudon@canadapost.postescanada.ca
· John Reis, General Manager of Retail Network Operations – john.reis@canadapost.postescanada.ca
· Hon. Will Greaves, MP for Victoria – will.greaves@parl.gc.ca
Your voices have power and now is the time to use them. Together, we can make it clear that Vic West deserves to keep its post office and that decisions about our community should not be made without us.
Besides writing to the above key contacts, please continue sharing this petition with your neighbours, friends and colleagues. Every signature strengthens our message to Canada Post and the federal government.
Thank you again for your incredible support.
Warm regards,
Pharmasave Westside
Open Letter to the Chair of the Board of Directors, Canada Post
October 14, 2025
Mr. André Hudon
Chair of the Board of Directors Canada Post Corporation
Dear Mr. Hudon,
I am writing to you on behalf of Pharmasave Westside (Apotheca Holdings Ltd.) in Victoria, BC, regarding Canada Post’s decision to close our postal outlet in two weeks, on October 28, 2025.
This outlet has served the Vic West community for 16 years, operating as a cost-neutral and revenue-generating location for Canada Post. All operating expenses such as rent, staffing, equipment and infrastructure are borne entirely by us, while Canada Post benefits from consistent annual purchases by us exceeding $300,000, placing our outlet among the top tier in its retail network.
In his correspondence of July 29, 2025, Director of Retail Area West for Canada Post stated that ”the decision to close the outlet was not based on poor performance or cost cutting measures.” This acknowledgment is crucial. It confirms that this closure is not a financial necessity nor a reflection of underperformance, but rather an internally driven decision detached from economic rationale and community need. If the closure is not intended to address financial or operational inefficiencies, one must question what broader strategy or policy is guiding these actions, and how such decisions align with the public service mandate of Canada Post.
In his subsequent letter of August 8, 2025, the General Manager of Retail Network Operations further stated that “Canada Post regularly reviews the size, scope, and locations in its dealer network and makes decisions that are in the best interests of its management of that network.”
This reasoning is deeply concerning. It reflects no consideration for the public, the community or Canada Post’s own service mandate under the Canadian Postal Service Charter. Decisions of this nature should not prioritize the “management of the network” over the needs of Canadians who rely on it.
At least four postal outlets have been closed in Greater Victoria this year alone, with more reportedly planned and additional closures confirmed in Vancouver. These outlets, many of which are cost-neutral and revenue-generating, extend Canada Post’s reach without adding much to its operational costs. Yet, instead of strengthening this efficient model, management is reducing access, particularly in fast-growing urban areas where demand is increasing.
Our Vic West location serves a walkable, mixed-demographic neighbourhood of over 8,000 residents (as big a small town), with more than 2,000 new homes planned in the coming years. By asking residents including seniors, small business owners, and those with mobility issues or without vehicles to travel to outlets 2 km away in downtown Victoria or downtown Esquimalt, Canada Post is undermining its commitment to accessibility and public service.
Meanwhile, as the corporation faces serious financial challenges and an ongoing labour strike, the decision to close outlets that are cost-neutral and revenue-generating to the Crown corporation is indefensible. The strike will end, but communities will be left to deal with the long term shortage of essential postal services. These decisions give the appearance that management is attempting to demonstrate action on its deficits, by eliminating outlets that actually help offset those very losses.
Despite these unresolved oversight requests, Canada Post has already begun implementing closure logistics, including directives to remove equipment, signage, and inventory from our outlet, even as the matter remains for review to the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works & Procurement, and to the Board of Directors.
This action proves once again the disregard by management for proper process and procedure in the face of an open and public challenge. It further demonstrates a lack of respect for the accountability mechanisms that are meant to govern a publicly owned institution.
The public, meanwhile, has made its position clear. Our petition opposing the closure has now gathered, in the middle of postal strike, over 600 signatures in just three weeks, reflecting widespread concern and frustration that Canada Post is reducing service access while communities like Vic West continue to grow.
Furthermore, this issue has also been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister of Canada, whose office has acknowledged our correspondence and referred the matter to Minister Joël Lightbound for review. Despite these formal engagements and our previous communications with Canada Post’s leadership, including the President and CEO, no substantive response has been received.
We have also written directly to you on September 14 and October 2, without acknowledgement. The absence of any response from the Chair or the Board has necessitated this open letter.
This closure and the broader pattern it represents demands immediate oversight. Therefore, I respectfully urge the Board of Directors to:
- Suspend the planned closure of the Vic West outlet, pending a full review;
- Disclose Canada Post’s current policy and criteria guiding the closure of dealer-operated postal outlets;
- Clarify whether the Board has approved, or is even aware of the broader strategy to reduce the number of dealer outlets, including cost-neutral, revenue-generating ones; and
- Explain how these decisions align with the Canadian Postal Service Charter, which commits Canada Post to maintaining accessible, reasonably convenient service for all Canadians.
Our community’s concern continues to grow, supported by coverage from CTV News, CFAX Radio, the Times Colonist, and Global News. This issue now stands as a national example of the need for transparency, accountability and sound decision making in publicly owned institutions.
Canada Post should prove that even in the face of daily losses of over $10 million, it can balance fiscal discipline with public service. By protecting, not eliminating the profitable arms of its network and supporting the communities that sustain it, rather than sacrificing them to convey the illusion of action.
Sincerely,
Alex Akhavan
Pharmasave Westside / Apotheca Holdings Ltd.
Victoria, BC
cc:
Doug Ettinger, President & CEO, Canada Post
John Reis, GM Retail Network Operations
Nathalie Delisle, Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer
Susan Thomas, Director of Corporate and Presidential Affairs
Hon. Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
Hon. Will Greaves, MP (Victoria)