As the Canada Post strike continues into its second week and the holidays loom closer, many Canadians may wonder if Santa’s mailbox will still be open for wishes this year.
More than 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job on Nov. 15, disrupting mail and parcel services nationwide and forcing some post offices to close.
With the halting of mail service, a beloved annual tradition was put on hold: Canada Post’s Santa Letter Program. This heartwarming initiative, which has been part of the holidays for over 40 years, handled about 1.4 million letters to Santa last year.
As of Wednesday, there appears to be no end in sight for the strike, with Canada Post and its workers’ union at a standstill, according to the Crown corporation.
This leaves the future of this festive tradition uncertain for now.
But there are other options if your child is still hoping to get their letter to Santa this year.
With postal workers on strike, emailing Santa this year provides a convenient alternative for getting a reply. In Canada, there are several options for sending digital letters to Santa.
The website EmailSanta.com was originally created as a response to the Canada Post strike in 1997, offering a digital way for kids to send their letters to Santa, explained its founder Alan Kerr. During the strike, Kerr said his nephew was worried his letter wouldn’t reach Santa. To ease this concern, Kerr created the website, which quickly gained popularity, attracting 1,000 visitors within its first two weeks.
Now, 27 years later, the Calgary-based website receives approximately 10 letters a second during the holidays and from across the world, Kerr told Global News.
The platform provides various ways to connect with Santa, including sending and receiving emails (with video options available), tracking Santa’s journey and enjoying fun Christmas trivia games.
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Since the postal strike started, Kerr said the desktop and mobile traffic is up 35 per cent in Canada.
“So there definitely has been a huge uptick,” he said. “And that’s because, with Canada Post kind of dragging its heels a little bit, Santa likes to charge ahead with technology.”
SantaChatter.com also describes itself as offering kids a fun and interactive way to communicate with Santa in real time through a live chat log, making the experience engaging and immediate.
The TrueNorthPole.com website offers a digital letter builder to write to Santa and ensures timely delivery to the North Pole. Letters can be sent until Dec. 21, allowing plenty of time for a reply.
And SantaOnline.net website provides both an email option for writing to Santa digitally and the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one chat with him in person.
Local initiatives are emerging across Canada, offering children alternative ways to write to Santa and receive a response.
For example, libraries in Burlington, Ont., announced on their website that they will continue the Letters to Santa program despite the Canada Post strike. Children will be offered letter templates and pens and pencils so they can write to Santa Claus at the North Pole.
“At present, we are continuing to mail the letters in the hope that an agreement will be reached, ending the strike. While less magical, we do have a backup plan in case the postal strike continues,” Krista Schwab, marketing and communications manager at the Burlington Public Library told The Canadian Press.
“BPL will offer the option for parents and caregivers to stop by a branch and pick up a non-personalized response letter so that kids can receive a reply before the holidays. We will communicate this option if we need to act on it.”
A farmers’ market in Nova Scotia is inviting children to drop off their letters until a week before Christmas and pick up a personalized reply from Santa Claus a few days later.
And the Grande Prairie Public Library in Alberta has announced on its website that it will be collecting letters to Santa this season. Children must drop off their letters by Dec. 9 to give Santa enough time to read and respond to each one. The replies will be available for pick-up starting Dec. 15.
Currently, Canada Post’s Santa Letter Program is on hold due to the strike. However, the Crown corporation has stated that if the strike ends soon, the program will resume as usual.
A spokesperson from Canada Post told Global News on Nov. 20 that as a result of the national strike, “we are unable to get mail to and from Santa in the North Pole.”
“It is our hope that postal operations can resume as quickly as possible at this critical time for customers. When operations do resume, we will help Santa by delivering a response to every letter sent to him this year,” spokesperson Lisa Liu wrote.
If the Canada Post strike resolves soon, children can still mail their letters to Santa at the traditional North Pole address: Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada.
— with files from Global News’ Rebecca Lau and Jake Webb and The Canadian Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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