Mailing a letter in Canada just got a little more expensive.
A 25 per cent postage rate increase by Canada Post took effect on Monday. It raises the cost of a booklet, coil or pane - the most common way stamps are sold - to $1.24 per stamp, up from $0.99 per stamp.
The price for a single domestic stamp jumped from $1.15 to $1.44.
The Crown corporation stated the rate increase was required to better align stamp prices with the rising cost of providing letter mail service to all Canadians.
"Every year, there are fewer letters to deliver to more addresses, which adds significant cost pressures to the corporation on top of continued inflationary pressures," Canada Post said in a statement issued Monday. "While rate increases are necessary, Canada Post understands that they mean additional costs for customers, and the corporation works to minimize the impact."
Canada Post announced the planned increase in September, well before the 30-day strike by its workers halted mail delivery during the busy holiday season and brought additional financial woes to the cash-strapped agency. The rate hike received regulatory approval in late November.
It is estimated the new rate will provide Canada Post with approximately $80 million in additional annual gross revenue in 2025 and only cost the average Canadian household an extra $2.26 and the average Canadian small business $42.17 more per year.
This is the fourth time the price of stamps in the country have risen in the past six years. In 2019, the price went up by five cents. That was followed by an additional two cent jump in 2020 and a seven cent increase in 2024.
Canada Post reported a more than $300 million quarterly loss in November as it continues to lose shares in the parcel delivery market while also having to fulfill its mandate to deliver to every address in the country.