As temperatures drop and weather conditions make retrieving items from mailboxes more difficult for some customers, Canada Post is ensuring everyone continues to have safe and timely access to their mail and parcels.
The Delivery Accommodation Program offers support to residential customers whose functional limitations, limited mobility or other health conditions impact their ability to retrieve mail and parcels from their mailbox. Accommodation solutions vary and can be provided year-round, temporarily or during winter only.
Some solutions make it easier for customers to use their mailbox, such as a key turner, sliding mail tray, mailbox compartment change and/or braille markings. Other solutions help improve customers’ access their mail and parcels by assigning them a community mailbox closer to their home, setting up weekly home delivery, redirecting mail to a family member or post office, or a customized solution. As each customer’s situation is unique, accommodation requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
More than 24,500 Canadians have enrolled in the program since it was launched in 2014 and feedback has been positive.
Diane Bergeron from CNIB and a former member of Canada Post’s national Accessibility Advisory Panel says Canada Post is going the extra mile to reduce barriers and ensure everyone has access to their mail.
“(This) is a great program that they run around helping people with disabilities and I was very excited to be part of the process of learning about it but also to be able to give advice as to how they can improve it.”
