Christmas chaos in the Maritimes as shipments and deliveries are delayed

The nationwide postal strike has added more pressure to local businesses in the Maritimes during their busiest time of the year.

"It was totally fine. We even posted that we were not affected by the strike until about a week ago when we got notification from UPS and Purolator that they were going to be pausing pickups domestic in Canada for the next 72 hours. That has not been lifted for UPS. It's been lifted for Purolator,” says Becca Williams, co-founder of Alben Lane Candle Co.

Williams, who already handles the local deliveries herself, now has to drop them off to those shipping locations. The process has created a holiday backlog.

“It just slows stuff down, so instead of us being able to get stuff out that same day…it's created such a blockage now,” says Williams. "We are dealing with 20 or so packages a day to get out of here so it's super convenient when they can just come to our door and pick them up but they are not doing that anymore, so it means loading up our truck every day and going to Staples.”

Businesses like Rousseau Chocolatier made other shipping arrangements at the start of the strike and have a handle on their orders.

"We are seeing and looking more towards local delivery, especially as we get closer to Christmas,” says Nathalie Morin, Rousseau Chocolatier co-founder and COO.

Morin says they are quite busy right now and expects they will only get busier with local orders as Christmas approaches.

"People have for years always had that understanding that it is Christmas, volumes are higher, people try to order early. So, for us the tendency is to normally have more people in the physical store closer to Christmas…and more local deliveries,” says Morin.

Morin suggests customers place orders early to get them there before Christmas.

“Things have been changing really quickly. We do try to always just ask our customers to place your order as early as possible because at this point with everything going on there is really no guarantee. We are trying our best and we know the service providers are working extra hard to make sure delivery deadlines are met,” says Morin.

The strike’s impact goes beyond just businesses. Maritimers are stuck waiting in long lineups at shipping and courier spots in Halifax. On Thursday at one UPS store in Halifax, the lineup was out the door for the majority of the day.

"Nobody can wait that long to just get through all the many people in line, we are hoping it gets solved quickly so it goes back to normal,” says one Halifax woman.

The added costs also worry some Maritimers.

"It's a really bad time to have an extra cost added in. You know it's going to be pricey as it is because it is Christmas time and you are trying to buy gifts and trying to ship, but having that extra was a little bit of a shock and a kick to the old pocketbook,” says another Halifax woman.

This UPS store has extended their hours to keep up with the rising demand. They are also assuring their customers anything shipped out of their store will be delivered.