Downtown Mission concerned over ongoing Canada Post strike and donations tied up in negotiations

Officials at The Downtown Mission in Windsor are growing concerned about the amount of donations coming in since the strike at Canada Post began earlier this month.

Executive director Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin said staff are reaching out to donors who typically mail in their generosity, noting funds are becoming strained as the labour dispute continues.

"This is our busiest time of the year for our donations here at the Downtown Mission," Ponniah-Goulin said. "We're a little worried."

According to Ponniah-Goulin, it's becoming increasingly difficult to plan for the remainder of the year, while meeting an increased demand in service while also looking ahead to 2025.

"Last year between November and December we had just over 2,000 pieces of mail delivered to us with cheques for donations, primarily. So that's about 2,000 potential individuals or companies or groups that would have mailed in a check to that we would try to get a hold of now."

Ponniah-Goulin explained they're encouraging anyone who may have mailed in a donation before, to consider calling the homeless shelter instead to make arrangements, or to contribute online through their website.

"Again, it's just another way of making sure we can be here next year, providing their services to the full, full capacity that we need to."

She told CTV News that the homeless shelter has been at or near capacity since August, with limited relief during the typically slow summer months, noting it takes upwards of $300,000 a month to maintain current operations.

The Downtown Mission, Windsor, November 26, 2024 (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

"We're doing what we can," Ponniah-Goulin continued, "Again, it's our donors that get us through these difficult times, and we reach out to them. Our community here in Windsor-Essex is so, so very generous. And we know they're always here for us when we need them."

Ponniah-Goulin said officials at the Mission and other shelters across Canada are losing sleep over the lack of mail-in funds, hoping the Canada Post strike will resolve soon.

"We're all praying really hard," she said. "We would love to get our donations back, of course, as well as any other local charities, and charities across Canada. But those workers too right, they are a couple weeks away from Christmas and what is this doing to them, their families? We hope this gets resolved quickly just for everyone to go back to, you know, normal life for each individual, each family and us organizations that depend on the mail we can continue as well and hopefully have a good year end."

"I know this is a very unfortunate situation," said Tish Glenn, President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Windsor Local 630.

"It's an unfortunate situation that's occurring right now and we know that these resources of these donations need to get out," Glenn said. "What we're doing here right now on the picket lines is the postal workers are just asking – go to the table Canada Post and negotiate so that we can get a fair collective agreement so that we can get back to doing what we do best."

In an email to CTV News Windsor, Canada Post spokesperson Phil Rogers said it's a difficult situation noting any mail and parcels in the postal network have been secured and will be delivered on a first-in, first-out basis once operations resume. However, the national strike will continue to impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends.

Rogers noted that Canada Post is down over 11 million parcels since the strike began, and that the impacts continue to be felt across the country, hitting small businesses, charities and remote communities the most.

"We remain committed to reaching new agreements at the bargaining table and talks will continue with the support of the special mediator," Rogers said in a statement.