Final Tentative Collective Agreement Reached Between Canada Post and CUPW

Tentative five-year agreements have now been finalized, and the next step is a national ratification vote, with no strike or lockout expected during the process.

Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have finalized tentative collective agreements for the Urban and RSMC bargaining units.

Canada Post announced that, after reaching tentative agreements in December, the parties have recently worked to finalize outstanding contractual language.

This clears the path for ratification votes.

Details of the agreement

The five-year agreements will run until January 31, 2029, and include several key provisions:

Wages and compensation

• A 6.5% wage increase in the first year (including 5% already received)
• A 3% increase in the second year
• Annual wage increases indexed to the Consumer Price Index inflation rate for years three, four, and five
• RSMC employees to move to an hourly rate of pay

Benefits and leave

• No changes to the Defined Benefit pension
• Enhanced health benefits plan
• Better income replacement for injury-on-duty leave and leave under the short-term disability program
• Six non-carry over personal days locked into the collective agreement, for a total of 13 personal days

Job security

• Maintaining current job security provisions for Urban employees
• Enhancing job security provisions for RSMC employees
• 393 corporate post offices protected in the collective agreement (Urban)

Operations

• New operating model to support weekend parcel delivery

What will happen next

CUPW will now manage a ratification process, with its National Executive Board advising members to support the agreements.

The union plans to share complete draft versions of the collective agreements in advance of voting, with further guidance on meetings and timelines to follow through official communications.

Meanwhile, both parties have agreed to suspend any strike or lockout activity during the ratification period to ensure continued postal service operations.

Background

The tentative collective agreements follow more than two years of negotiations between Canada Post and the CUPW, which officially began on November 15, 2023.

Collective agreements originally expired on December 31, 2023, for the RSMC unit and on January 31, 2024, for the Urban unit.

Negotiations were extended throughout 2024 and 2025 and were complicated by Canada Post’s ongoing financial and operational challenges.

Furthermore, the Canadian government called for Canada Post to implement a comprehensive overhaul to improve its financial stability and update its operations.

The dispute was marked by significant work stoppages, including a 32-day national strike in late 2024 and a second round of disruptions in 2025 that escalated from a national strike in September to rotating strikes throughout October and November.

The parties reached an agreement in principle on November 21, 2025, followed by tentative agreements on December 22, 2025.

On January 29, 2026, Canada Post said the parties had finalized the tentative agreements after resolving outstanding contractual language, clearing the way for a national ratification vote.

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Reach out to one of our trade professionals to learn more about this update and to help plan your time-sensitive shipments and deliveries.