Declines in Transaction Mail and Direct Marketing led to a loss of CAD $77 million in the first quarter of the financial year at the Canada Post segment of Canada Post Group.

While Direct Marketing and Transaction Mail saw large losses, Parcels revenue grew 38.4% on volumes that grew 27.3%. The former two losses – a combined volume drop of 91 million pieces and a revenue drop of $24 million between them – more than offset the growth of Parcels. Operating expenses grew by $287 million thanks to the costs associated with COVID-19, again more than offsetting the benefits of the strong growth of e-commerce in the country.

Purolator, its newly acquired parcels business recorded a profit before tax of $51m in Q1, growing by $41 million compared to the previous year. This helped Canada Post Group report an overall loss of $19 million thanks to the parcel carrier offsetting the Canada Post segment.