Stewart Bacon
President and Chief
Executive Officer

Posted: July 16, 2010

This is my first post as President and CEO of Canada Post, a position that I am honoured to hold until a permanent replacement is named in the coming months.

My mandate is pretty straightforward: to keep the company focused on the solid plan that has been in place for some time. Our priorities remain the same: exceeding our customers’ needs, making Canada Post one of the best places to work in Canada and ensuring that we remain a healthy and sustainable company.

The cornerstone of our plan is a $2-billion investment program we call Postal Transformation. It involves investing in new facilities, equipment and systems that will enable Canada Post to enhance our service to Canadians, increase our competitiveness, improve working conditions and safety for employees and secure the financial sustainability of the company.

The Postal Transformation program has achieved several milestones this year, including the opening of our new, state-of-the-art mail processing plant in Winnipeg. In the coming months and years you’ll hear more news about other major investments we are making across the country.

Another achievement is our recent $1-billion public bond issue. This is a major step toward financing Postal Transformation and allows us to borrow investment funds in the most cost-effective way possible, tapping public bond markets as other Crown Corporations have done.

We are borrowing money because our business doesn’t have the capacity to generate enough funds to pay for both our ongoing operational needs and for Postal Transformation. The savings we generate from Postal Transformation – $250 million per year by 2017 – will enable us to repay the debt.

This funding will enable us to do much more, of course. It’s no secret that traditional Lettermail^™ – our core business – is in decline, as is the case for postal administrations around the world. We recognize this reality and are already planning for how Canada Post can continue to serve the ever-evolving communications needs of Canadians.

The Canada Post of the future will continue to be a dependable and trusted communications company and a vital part of the Canadian economy – as it is today.  We must continue to live up to our commitment to Canadians to provide both universal service and remain financially sustainable. To do so, we will be smaller, leaner and greener. We will seek to offer more services to Canadians, taking advantage of our many assets, including our significant retail network and our daily connection to every Canadian in every community.

Change has been a constant throughout our history as a national postal service. It has had to be, in order to keep up with the ever-changing needs of Canadians. Now is no different. What will not change is our dedication to serving you as best we can – and finding ever better ways to do so.