By Théo Gervais – Contributor

The Canada Post strike has created uncertainty and has caused Canadian citizens to think about how closely the public services are related to the economy. Meanwhile, with the negotiations getting more tense over the issues of wages, benefits, and working conditions, the strike has resulted in immense disturbance to mail and parcel deliveries nationwide. The impact of this event can be perceived in Canada’s economy as well as in the stock market, especially in logistics and retail sectors. 

Small and medium-sized businesses that use Canada Post for getting goods sent at a lower cost are the victims of most of the repercussions of the strike. Delivery problems equate to unhappy customers, and this happens to be even worse during times like the holiday season. For big companies in the e-commerce sector, such as the retailer Amazon, sending packages to private delivery services like UPS and FedEx is an additional expense. The fact that these costs are rising can cause them to adjust in their budgets and consequently affect the market generally. 

The strike is one of the factors that has helped smaller companies to sometimes surpass each other in different services. As businesses seek alternatives, the demand for their services has seen a significant uptick with companies such as UPS and FedEx. Even though it is not the root cause of their stock rising, it definitely has the confidence to grow in a big way. The sharp rise in their stock prices mirrors the increased business that they’ve attracted during the disruption. This gives a clear example of how private companies can be cut-ups and steal the spotlight when government services lag behind. 

Such a strike also impacts many sectors beyond just the logistic industry. Price run-ups and unpredictable stock prices are common for retailers that use Canada Post as a distribution channel for their sales orders. Delays in the delivery process will cause a lack of trust from the customers, which leads to the decrease of future sales predictions and may thus negatively affect investor sentiment. Further on, there is growing interest in the technology market with self-operating delivery solutions that could potentially expand stocks in that area because of businesses considering new shipping methods.