Winnipeg startup seeks to continue door-to-door delivery

A new privately owned company called You Have Mail is preparing to fill the niche of home delivery once Canada Post stops delivering mail to individual homes.

“I looked at what all the challenges were going to be if we were going to be hauling all this stuff on foot, vicious dogs and all the works,” company founder Dan Trudeau said. “So we’ll make sure to have a little bit of pepper spray on hand.”

The company is launching its service Oct. 20 in Winnipeg – the same day that Canada Post begins phasing out delivery to 5.1 million Canadian homes as part of a sweeping cost-cutting initiative announced last year. That includes 12,500 homes in the Manitoba capital.

YouHaveMail is planning to expand to Calgary and Fort McMurray, Alta., later this year, and to other Canadian cities, if the demand is there

Two-day-per-week delivery will cost $20 a month; five-day-a-week service, nearly $60 a month. Disposing of junk mail is an extra $5. Carriers will use customers’ mailbox keys and then deliver the mail, either on foot or by car.

Mr. Trudeau said “hundreds” of customers have signed up so far, but he acknowledged the company will eventually need thousands to make the business a success.

In August, Canada Post said it would continue home delivery for residents who are physically unable to retrieve mail from community boxes, provided they provide medical information about their physical disability and a doctor’s note.

Agencies/Canadajournal