2022/05/04
Canada Post’s 2021 results have been released. Canada Post recorded a loss before tax in 2021 as revenue growth across all lines of business were partially offset by increased costs.
The full story of 2021 includes how we made strong early progress in fulfilling our purpose, A Stronger Canada – Delivered, and is in our 2021 Annual Report on canadapost.ca. Here you will also find a message from Doug Ettinger, President and CEO on our plans to deliver a stronger Canada.
The Canada Post segment’s loss before tax was $490 million in 2021. That’s an improvement from a loss before tax of $779 million in the prior year.
Revenue for the Canada Post segment increased by $407 million, or 6.3 per cent, in 2021 compared to the prior year. Compared to 2020, Parcels revenue grew, Transaction Mail revenue increased slightly, and Direct Marketing revenue and volumes started to recover toward pre-pandemic levels. Year-over-year comparisons are affected by COVID-19: in 2020, Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail volumes had declined substantially while Parcels volumes had increased significantly.
Cost of operations increased by $127 million, or 2.0 per cent, in 2021 compared to the prior year.
With sustained and elevated demand for parcel delivery across the country, we’re responding by investing to expand capacity, improve service and innovate operations. Financial self-sustainability remains our medium- to long-term goal, while our immediate focus must be on the critical investments and improvements needed to meet the changing needs of Canadians and support businesses of all sizes.
In this video, our Chief Financial Officer, Jan C. Faryaszewski, speaks about our 2021 financial results.
Here are the detailed results, compared to 2020:
Parcels
- In 2021, Parcels revenue increased by $238 million, or 7.4 per cent.
- Volumes fell by 28 million pieces, or 7.0 per cent, compared to a year when volumes had surged.
- Revenue results were positively affected by proactively managing use of available capacity through our commercial customer and product mix.
Transaction Mail
- Transaction Mail revenue grew by $10 million, or 0.8 per cent, partly due to federal election and census mailings in 2021.
- Volumes fell by 62 million pieces, or 2.0 per cent.
- Despite revenue growth from these mailings, erosion in Transaction Mail continues as consumers and mailers migrate to digital alternatives.
Direct Marketing
- Revenue grew by $113 million, or 14.4 per cent, and volumes increased by 595 million pieces, or 18.4 per cent.
- This was a partial recovery, following significant declines in the prior year, when customers had postponed or cancelled marketing campaigns due to COVID-19.
For more details, see the news release.