Vol. 144, No. 26 — June 26, 2010

Regulations Amending the International Letter-post Items Regulations

Statutory authority

Canada Post Corporation Act

Sponsoring agency

Canada Post Corporation

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

The Canada Post Corporation Act requires Canada Post to conduct its operations on a financially self-sustaining basis and offer postal services to Canadians across the country. Canada Post is facing a number of pressures that are threatening its ability to remain self-sustaining. These include declining mail volumes and the uncertainty caused by the economic downturn that began in 2008. At the same time, the Corporation is undergoing a significant infrastructure renewal to bring its network up to modern standards.

The objectives of the proposed amendments are to help ensure Canada Post’s financial integrity and its ability to maintain an accessible, affordable and efficient postal service.

Description and rationale

These proposed amendments to the International Letter-post Items Regulations, made under the Canada Post Corporation Act, would

(a) increase the rates of postage for letter-post items destined for the United States and other international destinations, effective January 17, 2011; and

(b) increase the maximum allowable size of a standard letter-post item destined for the United States and other international destinations to the maximum size allowable for standard domestic letter mail.

Terminal dues account for 50 to 60% of Canada Post’s expenses related to U.S. and international mail. Terminal dues are a pricing mechanism that allows the postal administration receiving the mail for delivery to collect for the cost of delivery from the postal administration sending the mail (in this case, Canada Post). Terminal dues to the United States are increasing by 9% in 2010, while terminal dues to other countries are increasing by 5%.

Even with the proposed price increases, Canada Post’s U.S. and international basic letter-post rates would continue to compare favourably with those of other major postal administrations.

The new rates would directly contribute to Canada Post’s financial integrity and, consequently, its ability to make future investments to maintain an accessible, affordable and efficient postal service.

The current rates and proposed rate increases are as follows:

U.S. letter-post	2010 Rate	Proposed 2011 Rate
30 g or less	$1.00	$1.03
More than 30 g but not more than 50 g	$1.22	$1.25
100 g or less	$2.00	$2.06
More than 100 g but not more than 200 g	$3.50	$3.60
More than 200 g but not more than 500 g	$7.00	$7.20
International letter-post
30 g or less	$1.70	$1.75
More than 30 g but not more than 50 g	$2.44	$2.50
100 g or less	$4.00	$4.10
More than 100 g but not more than 200 g	$7.00	$7.20
More than 200 g but not more than 500 g	$14.00	$14.40

Overall, the proposal would increase prices for regulated U.S. letter-post by a weighted average of 2.9% and international letter-post by a weighted average of 2.8%, with a combined weighted average increase of 2.9%.

The amendments would also increase the maximum allowable width of a standard letter-post item destined for the United States and other international destinations, from 150 mm to 156 mm, which is the same as for standard domestic letter mail. This would provide savings to customers, as they will be able to send letters measuring 245 mm in length, 156 mm in width and 5 mm in thickness at a lower rate than at present and will be able to use the same envelopes to mail short and long letters both domestically and internationally. For example, once the new rates come into force, a letter of this size weighing 30 g would cost $1.03 to send to the United States, whereas the same letter currently costs $2.00.

Consultation

The Canada Post Corporation Act requires a consultation period through publication of the regulatory proposal in the Canada Gazette. All representations must be sent to the Minister of Transport. The representations will be taken into consideration in the preparation of the final proposal.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The proposed Regulations would be enforced by Canada Post under the Canada Post Corporation Act. No increase in the cost of enforcement is expected as a result of the amendments.

The proposed amendments would come into effect on January 17, 2011.

Contact

Georgette Mueller
Director
Regulatory Affairs
Canada Post Corporation
2701 Riverside Drive, Suite N0980C
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0B1
Telephone: 613-734-7576
Fax: 613-734-8245
Email: georgette.mueller@canadapost.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 20(1) of the Canada Post Corporation Act (see footnote a), that the Canada Post Corporation, pursuant to subsection 19(1) (see footnote b) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the International Letter-post Items Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to the Minister of Transport, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6.

Ottawa, June 26, 2010

CANADA POST CORPORATION

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL LETTER-POST ITEMS REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. Section 4 of the International Letter-post Items Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

4. The rates of postage set out in Schedule IV apply in respect of letter-post items.

2. Schedule IV to the Regulations is replaced by the Schedule IV set out in the schedule to these Regulations.

COMING INTO FORCE

3. These Regulations come into force on January 17, 2011.

SCHEDULE
(Section 2)

SCHEDULE IV
(Section 4)

RATES OF POSTAGE — LETTER-POST ITEMS

Item	Column I Description	Column II Rate per item ($)	rates
1.	Letters, cards and postcards (a) posted to the United States, its territories and possessions (i) if the letters, cards or postcards do not exceed 245 mm in length, 156 mm in width or 5 mm in thickness (ii) if letters referred to in subparagraph (i) exceed 50 g or if letters exceed 245 mm in length, 156 mm in width or 5 mm in thickness but do not exceed 380 mm in length, 270 mm in width or 20 mm in thickness (b) posted to a foreign destination other than the United States, its territories and possessions (i) if the letters, cards or postcards do not exceed 245 mm in length, 156 mm in width or 5 mm in thickness (ii) if letters referred to in subparagraph (i) exceed 50 g or if letters exceed 245 mm in length, 156 mm in width or 5 mm in thickness but do not exceed 380 mm in length, 270 mm in width or 20 mm in thickness	30 g or less..................... more than 30 g but not more than 50 g................ 100 g or less................... more than 100 g but not more than 200 g.............. more than 200 g but not more than 500 g..............   30 g or less..................... more than 30 g but not more than 50 g................   100 g or less................... more than 100 g but not more than 200 g.............. more than 200 g but not more than 500 g..............	1.03 1.25 2.06 3.60 7.20    1.75 2.50   4.10 7.20 14.40

[26-1-o]

Footnote a
R.S., c. C-10

Footnote b
S.C. 1992, c. 1, s. 34

Footnote 1
SOR/83-807

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).