Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
The Canada Post strike is in week 4. The Federal Government has refused to intervene. This is rather odd given that they choose to intervene in some labour disputes, but not others. How they pick the ones to get involved with, and the ones to leave alone seems to be completely arbitrary, or out of touch, of the lives of Canadians.
The Canada Post strike isn’t just impacting your holiday packages and cards. It also has an impact on your personal injury case. How so?
Let’s share with you a sneak peak of how Canada Post and overall mail delivery is important to a personal injury law firm, and your personal injury case.
Not Everything Arrives via Fax, Email, Courier, or Bank Transfer
Lawyers use regular mail!!! Lawyers use regular mail a lot! So do doctors, accountants and other small, medium and large sized businesses. But the thing about lawyers is that we write letters. (Dave Letterman Mailbag Theme song here) We write letters. We write lots and lots of letters…LETTERS!!!! Sometimes the enclosures to these letters are large volumes of documents. Other times they are encrypted data keys. In any event, lawyers use Canada Post to get information out, or messages out in order to move the case forward. Because of the Canada Post strike, lawyers are resorting to using more faxes, emails and couriers. But the problem is….
Not everyone uses faxes and emails
I know that statement sounds crazy, but please hear me out. Many government agencies and offices still operate in the stone age. They don’t, or won’t, transmit documents via fax or email. The reason which some give is that it’s not safe or secure. But, I suspect that it’s because they don’t have the capacity or capability to do so. Lots of offices may not have large capacity scanners to get the job done. It’s easier to photocopy the records and send them out in the mail. OHIP Summaries still arrive from the Ministry of Health by regular mail. Police Reports and Officer’s notes and witness statements still arrive from many police forces by regular mail. Clinical notes and records from many hospitals (not all, but most), still arrive by regular mail. Clinical notes and records from many doctors offices still arrive by regular mail. To make matters even more complicated, in order to get these records, payment is required. Payment, in the overwhelming majority of cases is made by cheque, which arrives by regular mail. Do you really think that you can get a government clerk on the phone to make a Visa payment? Do you really think that all government offices and administrators have the systems and capability to receive payments online across multiple platforms? The reality is that the majority of government and civil service offices are set up to receive payment either in person (credit, debit), or via cheque received by regular mail. Their offices internally are also set up to produce documents and correspondence by way of regular mail. Still to this day, hospital records, medical records, police reports, officer’s notes, witness statements, tax returns, employment files: they are all mostly sent out by way of regular mail from source.
Delays in the Mail = Delays in Personal Injury Cases
Personal injury lawyers move cases forward by producing evidence to insurance companies in order to build the case up. If the personal injury lawyer cannot get the records on account of a mail strike, then the case will be slowed down. Records arrive everyday at a personal injury lawyer’s office through Canada Post. Since the Canada Post strike, that supply chain of information/documentation has grinded to a halt. This is not to suggest that the flow of records has stopped completely. Some office are producing records by fax, courier, email, or hand delivery. But, not every office has taken these measures and as a result, the flow of information/documentation in personal injury cases has slowed down dramatically. Keep in mind that OHIP Summaries, Tax Returns, Hospital Records, Officer’s Notes, Witness Statements from the Police all still flow by way of regular mail. This does not take into account other source documents like clinical notes and records from the family doctor or other treating physicians, service providers, ODSP Files, CERB files, CPP Files, Ontario Works Files, EI Files which also still flow by regular mail as well. People have no idea how much personal injury lawyers rely on Canada Post in order to build a case, and push it forward. 
Getting money out is set up in most cases through the mail, but not anymore
During the Pandemic, it took a good month++ for personal injury lawyers and insurers to get the hang of e-transfers. Electronic transfers of settlement funds was not very common. Settlement funds from insurers generally arrived by courier, registered, or regular mail in the form of a cheque. Since the Canada Post strike, insurance defence firms are seeing a slow down in getting funds from their insurance clients, and the settlement funds must be sent by courier, or electronic transfer. The settlement funds can no longer be sent by registered or regular mail through Canada Post. For the personal injury lawyer to get his/her client their money, the funds cannot be sent by regular or registered mail. They need to be hand delivered, or sent by way of electronic transfer once the client’s ID is verified. The mail is out of the question.
The Costs for Personal Injury Cases are Increasing due to the Canada Post Strike
In order to send records (not electronically), personal injury lawyers need to resort to couriers because Canada Post isn’t running. The cost of couriers has gone up from what we have seen. Some couriers in fact have stopped shipping because they are overwhelmed with orders on account of the Canada Post strike and the busy holiday season. The cost of a single stamp in Canada is $1.15. The cost to send a courier in Canada varies, depending on where it’s being sent. It can be anywhere from $20 on the really inexpensive end, to up to $200+ depending on the size of the parcel and destination. The client ends up paying in excess of 20x more for delivery of a document which should cost must less but for the Canada Post strike.
