Courier complaints about Canada Post/Purolator deal unfounded

TORONTO (April 27) — Canada Post has no plans to merge its express operations with those of Purolator Courier, of which the federally-owned postal agency owns 96%.

The Canadian Courier Association (CCA) last week said it had appealed to Ottawa to block a merger. The CCA has argued that combining Purolator and Canada Post express volumes, the two companies would have a 52% market share, the CCA said. The next largest courier company has a 9.7% share.

But Canada Post spokesman John Caines said that no merger is planned. Purolator will remain independent, with its own employees, its own board of directors, and its own overnight express services, he said. Caines added that audits have affirmed that Canada Post does not subsidize Purolator’s express operations from the letter monopoly.

The CCA filed a complaint with the federal Competition Bureau alleging that Canada Post’s express service is subsidized by its monopoly as a mail carrier, and that allowing Canada Post and Purolator to merge would undermine fair competition among couriers in Canada.

It’s a position the CCA has argued ever since Canada Post first acquired a stake in Purolator several years ago. However, it gained new steam when Canada Post, a federally owned corporation, increased its stake in Purolator from 75% to 96% last December.


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