CHBA and Canada Post Reach Agreement

OTTAWA — Thanks to the coordinated efforts of CHBA at all three levels of the association and the actions taken by its members, Canada Post has agreed to suspend its Community Mailbox (CMB) fee until January 1, 2014. Recent meetings between CHBA national office and senior officials at Canada Post, bolstered by actions by our provincial and local HBAs and members, have led Canada Post to recognize the issues and need for consultation with our industry on all such issues now and in the future. As a result, on July 31, 2013, at a meeting between CHBA President Deep Shergill, CEO Kevin Lee, and Deepak Chopra, President of Canada Post, Canada Post agreed to suspend the fee. Discussions between the CHBA and Canada Post will now continue to reach agreement around the impact of the fee on home buyers, on the timing and means of payments, and opportunities for adjustments based on costs associated with the CMBs incurred by developers. Canada Post is also committed to clarifying for consumers that the fee is charged by the postal service, not the developer or home builder.
“The Canada Post fee was first raised by one of our local members here in Kamloops and soon became a national issue in Ottawa,” said Matt McCurrach, President of the CHBA Central Interior. “This is a great example of all three levels of the CHBA working together to prevent unnecessary costs being downloaded onto the residential construction industry.”