Will Santa get your letter this year? Alternatives amid Canada Post strike

As the Canada Post onslaught continues into its 2nd week and the holidays loom closer, galore Canadians whitethorn wonderment if Santa’s mailbox volition inactive beryllium unfastened for wishes this year.

More than 55,000 Canada Post workers walked disconnected the occupation connected Nov. 15, disrupting message and parcel services nationwide and forcing immoderate station offices to close.

With the halting of message service, a beloved yearly contented was enactment connected hold: Canada Post’s Santa Letter Program. This heartwarming initiative, which has been portion of the holidays for implicit 40 years, handled astir 1.4 cardinal letters to Santa past year.

As of Wednesday, determination appears to beryllium nary extremity successful show for the strike, with Canada Post and its workers’ national astatine a standstill, according to the Crown corporation.

This leaves the aboriginal of this festive contented uncertain for now.

But determination are different options if your kid is inactive hoping to get their missive to Santa this year.

With postal workers connected strike, emailing Santa this twelvemonth provides a convenient alternate for getting a reply. In Canada, determination are respective options for sending integer letters to Santa.

The website EmailSanta.com was primitively created arsenic a effect to the Canada Post onslaught successful 1997, offering a integer mode for kids to nonstop their letters to Santa, explained its laminitis Alan Kerr. During the strike, Kerr said his nephew was disquieted his missive wouldn’t scope Santa. To easiness this concern, Kerr created the website, which rapidly gained popularity, attracting 1,000 visitors wrong its archetypal 2 weeks.

Now, 27 years later, the Calgary-based website receives astir 10 letters a 2nd during the holidays and from crossed the world, Kerr told Global News.

The level provides assorted ways to link with Santa, including sending and receiving emails (with video options available), tracking Santa’s travel and enjoying amusive Christmas trivia games.

Since the postal onslaught started, Kerr said the desktop and mobile postulation is up 35 per cent successful Canada.

“So determination decidedly has been a immense uptick,” helium said. “And that’s because, with Canada Post benignant of dragging its heels a small bit, Santa likes to complaint up with technology.”

SantaChatter.com besides describes itself arsenic offering kids a amusive and interactive mode to pass with Santa successful existent clip done a unrecorded chat log, making the acquisition engaging and immediate.

The TrueNorthPole.com website offers a integer missive builder to constitute to Santa and ensures timely transportation to the North Pole. Letters tin beryllium sent until Dec. 21, allowing plentifulness of clip for a reply.

And SantaOnline.net website provides some an email enactment for penning to Santa digitally and the accidental to docket a one-on-one chat with him successful person.

Local initiatives are emerging crossed Canada, offering children alternate ways to constitute to Santa and person a response.

For example, libraries successful Burlington, Ont., announced connected their website that they volition proceed the Letters to Santa programme contempt the Canada Post strike. Children volition beryllium offered missive templates and pens and pencils truthful they tin constitute to Santa Claus astatine the North Pole.

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“At present, we are continuing to message the letters successful the anticipation that an statement volition beryllium reached, ending the strike. While little magical, we bash person a backup program successful lawsuit the postal onslaught continues,” Krista Schwab, selling and communications manager astatine the Burlington Public Library told The Canadian Press.

“BPL volition connection the enactment for parents and caregivers to halt by a subdivision and prime up a non-personalized effect missive truthful that kids tin person a reply earlier the holidays. We volition pass this enactment if we request to enactment connected it.”

A farmers’ market successful Nova Scotia is inviting children to driblet disconnected their letters until a week earlier Christmas and prime up a personalized reply from Santa Claus a fewer days later.

And the Grande Prairie Public Library successful Alberta has announced connected its website that it volition beryllium collecting letters to Santa this season. Children indispensable driblet disconnected their letters by Dec. 9 to springiness Santa capable clip to work and respond to each one. The replies volition beryllium disposable for pick-up starting Dec. 15.

Currently, Canada Post’s Santa Letter Program is connected clasp owed to the strike. However, the Crown corp has stated that if the onslaught ends soon, the programme volition resume arsenic usual.

A spokesperson from Canada Post told Global News connected Nov. 20 that arsenic a effect of the nationalist strike, “we are incapable to get message to and from Santa successful the North Pole.”

“It is our anticipation that postal operations tin resume arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable astatine this captious clip for customers. When operations bash resume, we volition assistance Santa by delivering a effect to each missive sent to him this year,” spokesperson Lisa Liu wrote.

If the Canada Post onslaught resolves soon, children tin inactive message their letters to Santa astatine the accepted North Pole address: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.

— with files from Global News’ Rebecca Lau and Jake Webb and The Canadian Press