Sending a letter in Canada will now cost you a bit more.
Canada Post has received approval to increase prices by seven cents per stamp.
As of Monday, stamps purchased in a booklet, coil, or pane cost 99 cents, up from 92 cents.
The price of a single stamp increased to $1.15 from the current price of $1.07.
The Crown corporation said it is the most significant jump in the past decade. Stamp prices last increased by two cents in 2020 and five cents in 2019.
The rate changes also affect other products, including U.S., international letter-post and domestic Registered Mail items.
Officials said the average household would pay an extra 65 cents annually while the average small business would pay $12.07 more.
Canada Post has said it faces “considerable financial pressure” amid cost increases and fewer letters to deliver.
On Friday, the Crown corporation reported a loss before tax of $748 million in 2023. It blamed the post-pandemic surge in parcel delivery competition, the ongoing erosion of mailed letters, and continued growth in addresses and delivery costs.
Revenue fell by $240 million, or 3.3 per cent, in 2023 while costs increased by $11 million, or 0.1 per cent.
Canada Post said it saw 117 million fewer letters move through the system in 2023, down five per cent.
“An operating model designed to deliver nearly 5.5 billion letters in 2006 cannot be sustained on the 2.2 billion letters we delivered last year,” President and CEO Doug Ettinger said in a news release, adding the trend is not unique to Canada.
Revenue also fell across the parcel and direct marketing lines of business, the Crown corporation reported.
