Toronto-Iqaluit letter takes 21 days

Canada Post will investigate complaints from an Iqaluit resident who said this week that letter mail spends up to 21 days in transit before it's delivered to Iqaluit from southern Canadian addresses.

"Mail from Ottawa to Iqaluit is getting consistently slow – with spectacular cases of delayed mail," Iqaluit resident Cameron McGregor said in a letter sent to Canada Post and copied to Nunavut MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell.

To support his allegations, McGregor showed Nunatsiaq News some sample letters he's recently received.

One letter from Winnipeg spent 18 days in transit before it showed up in McGregor's mailbox. Three letters from Toronto took 12, 13 and 21 days respectively. And a letter mailed in Ottawa took 11 days.

In his complaint, McGregor added that some people are getting credit card bills after the deadline for making a minimum payment has expired.

Lise Nolan, Canada Post's area manager for Nunavut, said she takes the complaints seriously and will investigate them as soon as she can.

"We'll definitely follow up on this," Nolan said.

Nolan said Canada Post's delivery-time standard for letters mailed to Iqaluit from outside Nunavut is about eight days.

And parcels should take no more than 13 days, while letters mailed from one address to another in Iqaluit should take no more than two days, she said.

"For the most part, I believe we are meeting standards, but there is the odd occasion when we don't," Nolan said.

She said she'll first check to see if the delays are due to a holdup at a mail processing plant, and then follow-up with airlines to find out if they've been transporting mail on time.

In the North, Canada Post signs contracts with a variety of airlines to deliver mail, with delivery standards written into the contracts.

She said bad weather can often delay mail delivery in Nunavut, but rarely in the summer

"At this time of year, that should not be an issue," Nolan said.