Canada Post strike disrupts mailed cancer screening kits, driver’s license renewals

The average number of letters people receive has dropped significantly over the years — down to just two a week, compared to seven a week in 2006, according to Canada Post.

Nevertheless, when you get the odd envelope, it’s probably for a good reason: a government announcement, bank update, or other important message that can’t be transmitted online.

The ongoing postal strike underscores how important that mail can be, said Marvin Ryder, a professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business in Hamilton.

“People forgot,” Ryder suggested of the key role snail mail provides.

“They simply forgot things like renewing a passport. There are over 80,000 passports waiting in Mississauga. They’ve been printed, they’re ready to go, but we deliver them by letter post.”

Now in three weeksthe effects of the strike are hard to miss. Here are some of the things affected by the shutdown of mail:

Government documents

Canadians waiting for government documents, such as passports and health cards, can expect delays.

The federal government says those who did not pay extra to collect their passports will be affected. Those who need the document immediately are advised to call Service Canada or visit them in person to request that the passport be made available for collection instead.

In Ontario, the government tells people waiting for a health card renewal that they can receive emergency medical care at a hospital or clinic.

It also says people should keep their receipts as temporary proof that they qualify for provincial health insurance, which they can use with their expired health cards.

Health screening at home

Provinces sending home cancer screening kits are warning people not to send them back in the mail during the strike.

That includes Ontario residents who receive a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit in the mail to screen for colon cancer. Typically, recipients would send their stool sample to a laboratory. Now the province is asking people to deliver their sample in person.

In British Columbia, much of the cervical self-screening process has been put on hold. This test, which involves vaginal swabbing, screens for HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. If the test does not reveal HPV, the patient can skip a Pap test.

The province says it is not sending kits during the Canada Post strike and those who have them should not complete them until the work stoppage is over.

Residents who want a kit can order one now, but it won’t be shipped until Canada Post resumes service.

Both provinces say residents will receive the results of completed tests, but not directly by mail. The results will be shared with the patients’ primary care provider.

Donations to charity

Some charities are reporting a drop in donations, which they attribute to the strike.

In Vancouver, VGH and the UBC Hospital Foundation say their annual millionaire lottery is taking a hit amid the industrial action. The campaign raises money for medical research and equipment that supports Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital and other health services.

Like many charities, it relies on email campaigns to get the word out. But with the strike in effect, the charity has been unable to distribute lottery brochures, disrupting ticket sales.

The Toronto Zoo’s Wildlife Conservancy said it is also feeling the pinch.

“Like many nonprofits across the country, most of our donations come in at the end of the year, many of them by mail,” executive director Kathy Koch said in an email.

Donations this year are down about 40 percent from the same time last year, Koch said, though it’s unclear how much of that is related to the postal strike.

Both organizations encourage people to donate online.

Library services

In some cases, Canada Post delivers library materials directly to patrons, but this is now on hold.

As are interlibrary loan services facilitated by the Canadian Library Materials Service, which receives a reduced rate for sending materials to registered public libraries, university libraries and other libraries operated by non-profit organizations.

Likewise, the Center for Legal Library Access does not supply physical material during the strike.

The organization provides library materials to people with a learning, physical or visual disability that prevents them from reading conventional print.

While digital services are not affected, it has paused production and distribution of audiobook CDs, embossed braille and print braille until the strike is over.