Are You Ready to Start Your Own Business? 6 Things to Plan For

Did you know Canada..  Small businesses make up approximately 98 percent of Canada's employers, with more than 1.1 million small businesses employing more than 5.1 million workers around the country. Truly, small business is the backbone of the country's industry. Are you ready to become the next small business success story? Here's what you need to plan for so you can succeed.

Draft a Serious Business Plan

Image via Flickr photosteve101

A business plan covers these four aspects of your new business:

• Defines the goals and objectives of the business
• Outlines the business' needs for financing
• Includes a plan for marketing the business
• Is updated regularly as plans develop and grow

You need to know all these things before taking any steps toward creating the business, because without a plan things go awry. For example, without defining your goals and objectives, it's impossible to assess decisions according to whether  they fit within your clearly stated goals. Few business owners have the cash to start a business without some finance, so you'll need a plan to discuss what private or government loans to apply for.

No business survives without an effective marketing strategy, so this should be part of your plan and included in the initial loans you apply for. Since no business owner is able to see the full picture from inception, it's important to update and adapt the business plan as you proceed through the steps below. Some plans may not work out, and new ideals will surface as things unfold.

Set Up a Flexible Communications Strategy

Before you open the doors for the first customer, you need a way for prospective employees, customers, loan officers, and suppliers to get in touch with you. Shop around, because your local phone company isn't your only option.

Many business use BlackBerry's mobile device management solutions to create a comprehensive, all-encompassing telecommunications system without land lines or cable Internet providers. This way, you and all your employees have a reliable, affordable way to access phones, text messages, and the Internet, either from their own devices or from corporate-owned ones.

Choose the Best Location

There are several things to consider when choosing a location:

• Is the property zoned for the type of business you're opening there?
• Do nearby businesses compliment or compete with yours?
• Is the community capable of supporting the business with enough customers and employees?
• If you outgrow the facility here, what will your options be for moving to a larger building?
• Is the crime rate low so patrons and employees won't be afraid of walking to and from their vehicles?

Choosing a location requires some research, so be sure to include this in your financial plans.

Look for Financing

There are a number of government financing options as well; many banks and financial institutions are willing to lend money to start-up businesses. Don't be tempted to swoop up the first loan opportunity that comes along, though. Wait until you have several offers in hand in order to get the best interest rate, the most generous loan, and agreeable payment terms. You'll need your business plan as well as your other market research, when you go to apply for these loans and grants.

Stock the Business

Now it's time to focus on inventory, including the things you'll need to produce work: office machines, break room supplies, and other necessities. Take advantage of rewards cards, online discount retailers like Overstock.com, and wholesalers like Costco. Unfortunately, Sam's Club closed its Canadian stores, but there are ways to get free office supplies with services like Freecycle Network.

Get Necessary Licensing

You'll need to register your business name with the government, which is now done online. You'll then need to get the necessary licensing from your province and the local municipal government. Each province and territory handles business licensing differently, as does each municipality, so check the local laws governing business with your local government. Some local governments make provisions for handling licenses and permits online, while others require business owners to come in person to apply for licenses and permits.

Starting a business and getting it running smoothly is a lengthy process, but don't let the detailed nature of the task get you down. Owning your own business is one of the most liberating things you can do, allowing you to showcase your creative talents, work ethic, management skills, and industry knowledge all at once. Taking the proper steps at the beginning of the process lays a solid foundation for the success you desire.

Whether you're one of the 2.2 million self-employed Canadian workers, or one of the 1.1 million owners of small businesses, a solid plan and faithful follow through are the most powerful keys to success.

Staples Canada - THE Place for Office Supplies!

Did you know Canada..  well, it just feels like fall today in my neck of the woods, how about you?  With cooler weather it gets me in the mood to get the kids ready for back to school, and with them busy during the day it means Mom needs to get her home office together too!

I headed to Staples Canada recently, because when you think of office supplies, it's the place to go right!  I was really excited to see the Martha Stewart Home Office™ section, what a beautiful AND function group of products!  I thought the Chalk Board labels were so fun! and the Tags are just genius.  Fun colours for not so fun organizational items like drawers and folders, you can create a whole office in style, or even use these to make that corner in the kitchen your own!

I also picked up something that I love - pens!  Even with the days of smart phones you can never have enough pens.  Mine are always missing, stolen or decide not to work the moment I need them most!  Thankfully Staples Canada has a isle dedicated to my favourite must have.

Hubby picked up some blank dvds for file storage, I picked up a cute little note book from the clearance section and the kids noticed the Soda Stream stuff!  How fun would it be to have a Soda Stream in a small office, or especially, the home office!  They also have coffee/tea pods - a must have to get through any office day. :)

Why not pick a cool day this August to set up your own home office, or freshen up the office at work, it makes everyone in a better mood and Staples Canada has everything you need!

5 Gadgets for Busy Geeks

Did you know Canada.. If you're tech geek on the go, you probably love gadgets. If you're not, how do you know what the latest gadgets are? Well, sit back and check out this list of gadgets that may end up on your next "must-have" list.

Heys eCase

Image via Flickr by CollegeDegrees360

For the tech geek who travels and wants the perfect carry-on luggage, the Heys eCase is just what you're looking for. It doubles as a back-friendly wheelie case for easy transport, but is savvy enough to include a combination TSA lock should you decide to check it instead of carry it onboard. With accordion-style pockets, you can keep files separate from your underwear. And of course it has a padded laptop sleeve. You can also pick your own color and design when ordering. 

J5 Create Wormhole KM Switch
Sharing files between laptops has always been a bit problematic. You have to connect the laptop, configure your partner's security settings, and then have them load the files to the network before finally being able copy the files from the network to your own laptop. Not anymore.

This USB cable takes the complexity out of the task. Simply plug Wormhole KM Switch into both laptops via a USB cable. It works with Macs or PCs. The software on the USB connectors allows you to copy files back and forth. In addition, the keyboard and mouse from one computer can control both computers.

Targus Premium Laptop Charger
You have to keep your laptop charged but that bulky brick of a charger is a pain, especially if you're carrying around several of them for various devices. Well, no more.

The Targus Premium Laptop Charger is about the size of a BlackBerry, with a seriously sleek design. It'll power your laptop as well as one other mobile devices from a car, wall socket, or even a plane. You'll never look back after you rid yourself of that brick. If you were thinking about purchasing a blackberry 10 or similar smartphone, you may also want to consider picking up this slick gadget as well.

Lewis N. Clark Bell Hop Travel Door Alarm
Not all tech geeks are paranoid, but in case you are (or even if you aren't) you'll love this little baby. It's a door security system with a high-pitched 91-decible alarm. If anyone opens your hotel room door you'll know about – and so will your neighbors. Just remember to disengage it before room service enters. 

Jawbone Jambox
For the frequent traveling tech geek, a decent speaker in a hotel room is the perfect luxury item to make your hotel stay a bit nicer.  It's wireless, portable, affordable, and has other great features including an output capacity of 85 decibels and a 10-hour battery life.  Additionally, it can double as a speakerphone for your VoIP and cell phone calls. And the customization options using the MyTALK online platform are simply amazing.

If it's true that the "geeks shall inherit the earth," it would seem the takeover is now underway. Jump onboard and see what gizmo you could use – or simply have fun with. 

5 Quick Ways to Reduce Stress On the Job

Did you know Canada..  As the economy struggles and workplace demands intensify, when employees are interrupted an average of 7 times an hour and distracted more than 2 hours a day, it's no wonder we suffer from overbearing amounts of stress. We need a way to daily, if not hourly, reduce the amount of pressure we face on the job. 

1. Identify what you Can Control

Image via Flickr by Alan Cleaver

When a situation is out of our control, we experience stress. It actually activates a stress hormone, which can eventually wear you down and ruin your confidence, sense of well-being and your ability to concentrate. To remediate this feeling, you need to identify the aspects of the situation you can control. Those are generally your actions and responses. Work to be the master of these forces, and accept that some things you can't control and let them go.

2. Deep Breathing, Meditation and Prayer
Stress places unnecessary strain on our bodies and increases health issues. It will cause our heart rates to increase and blood pressure to rise. If you step out of a particularly stressful meeting, it is an excellent idea to gain control over these physical reactions. Deep breathing helps settle everything down. Inhale slowly for 5 seconds, hold for a beat then exhale through your nose. It's like a mini-yoga class at your desk. Close your eyes and meditate on simple quiet scenes. Silently pray and reach out to God for serenity. Similar ideas can be found at the Ed Young Fellowship.

3. Manage Interruptions
Today's workers are more bothered by interruptions than ever before. They can come in so many ways, phone calls, instant messages, emails, pop-ins, urgent deadlines, text messages. It's difficult to control the distractions, but with an appropriate response and good management, you can. First, decide to either accept the interruption, diagnosis its importance and make plans for it, or simply cut it off. Decide in advance which response you're going to make. Manage as many of them as possible by only answering email at a pre-designed time, set up office hours, and when necessary close the door and take the phone off the hook.

4. Schedule and Take Breaks
Trying to push through a 10 hour day will result in less efficiency because of stress. Take planned breaks following every 90 minutes of intense concentration. Walk, stretch, do a breathing exercise. This brief period of recovery will clear out the stress and rejuvenate our systems.

5. Diet and Sleep
Poor diets stress our systems. Stay away from the junk food and stay on a low-sugar, high-protein diet. Your body can use the right ingredients to better handle stress. Same goes for adequate sleep. The CDC says some 60 million of use don't get enough sleep, and that kills productivity the next day and adds to our stress levels. Try this simply breathing trick to fall asleep quickly: cover your left nostril and breathe through your right for five minutes.

Stress is a killer, and there is so much self-imposed pressure in our lives, compounded and reinforced by the jobs and expectations we put on ourselves. Not taking a moment to relieve all that tension could be fatal.

Corporate Catering

Did you know Canada..  planning office events is no easy task.  Whether it's a meeting over lunch, impressing a client or a large scale function, the main ingredient is always what to serve.

I've been to many an office lunch, some are simplified with individual meals, others are pizza or cold plates where you have to serve your self.  I always find these messy as there's a lot of cross contamination, never the right serving utensils available and buttering, condiments, etc.. are a pain.

Looking into corporate catering in Toronto the sky can be the limit in options, but sometimes the more simple the better whether looking to impress or just enjoy a good lunch with co-workers.

There is also the matter of location, availability, possible allergies, clean up and available time.  If you have allergies among your members your best bet is to have pre made, individually wrapped meals.  This means no chance of cross contamination and no worries about reactions!

Corporate catering doesn't just mean lunch in the board room either, there's conferences, staff meetings, "town halls" where members from all locations gather, just to name a few.

Have you ever been a part of planning an office event?  What are some of your go to options for catering?

EVAP - Save your phone!!

Did you know Canada..  I know you have a Smartphone, who doesn't?  Have you ever ended up with one in the washing machine, falling in a puddle or pool?  Or even just left it in the car overnight and it got covered in condensation?

We all know about the rice trick although so far I haven't heard about it actually working for anyone yet!  But now, there's EVAP!

7 times more absorbent than rice, EVAP can rescue your phone in just 6 to 24 hours!

Did you know 2 out of 3 people experience water damage to their smartphone?  That makes me nervous!!


I received an EVAP to check out, it looks very simple to use.  If your phone ends up taking a dunk turn it off, remove the battery and SIM card, pat any moisture off and place the phone between the two vaccum-sealed EVAP Tyvek pouches, then into the larger Rescue Pouch.

After it's sealed, this is my fav feature, a humidity indicator will change colour within 6 to 24 hours to signify the rescue opertation is complete!!!  How cool is that??  Much smarter than poking at the rice wondering if it's done it's thing and you can trust the EVAP to actually remove all the water.

Small enough to keep in your purse, laptop bag or overnight bag, you can have it with you anywhere for the most unexpected moments!

Available at Best Buy, Future Shop, Grand and Toy and Amazon.ca, what a great gift idea for a friend or family member who just got a new smart phone, something for a son or daughter to take with them to collage in the fall, or just to have in the pool house this summer for any accidents!

Other Phone Line Options in Canada

Did you know Canada..  you don't need to be tied to a phone line in Canada, there's other options.

We recently switched to a VoIP (Voice over IP) service, it allowed us to keep our home phone
number, we have more options then we did before, can call anywhere and Canada and it works great - and we are paying a fraction of the cost we were before.  This means your voice communications are transported via a data network, rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN).  We still use our home phone, no one can tell the difference, we just have a lot more features while paying less (kinda cool right).  One feature I really love, being a Mom on the go, is that when someone leaves me a voicemail I can have the message emailed directly to my email account.  My smartphone, probably like yours, never leaves my hand, so I love being able to listen to messages on the run and know who's called the home line.

There's another cool option too, a great business solution - Session Initiation Protocol - SIP Trunking Canada, it's voice and data traffic on a single network.  This allows for businesses to make full use of their IP backbone to connect the company not only internally but also to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). This eliminate the need for separate voice and data networks and can be a real cost savings.

Say you have multiple locations for your business and each with multiple lines, with SIP you can pool you channels, instead of paying for individual services and a multitude of lines at each site.

With greater flexibility and scalability, there are now more options in Canada for your home and business voice communications, keep up with the future and you'll be surprised with the savings available for you!

What type of phone service to you use?

Government vs Private Auto Insurance #Canada #T2T

Did you know Canada..  I bet every time someone gets a new car at work or in the family the topic of auto insurance comes up and someone mentions that the government should operate the car insurance business.  I'd love to chat about this with you guys, what do you think?

Here's some straight up facts about Government vs Private Auto Insurance..

First of all, all insurance providers already run within a strict framework of provincial laws that are supervised by a number of government agencies, like rate review boards and both federal and provincial regulators.

The average cost to establish a government-run insurance company by province would be $300-$500 million - yikes!  Not only would there be these enormous start-up costs, but all government-run auto insurers in Canada have required taxpayer subsidies to bail them out.

With private auto insurance the rates reflect the true cost. Premiums in a competitive environment reflect the real cost of insuring a driver.

The government would offer static solutions for consumers, that would mean we lose out on multi-vehicle discounts and the like.

The private insurance industry in Canada employs almost 100,000 people, either directly or through its support of a broker workforce, that's big!

Insurance Bureau of Canada wants you to Get In the Know about Auto Insurance.  By the way, anyone ever try to tell you a red car costs more in insurance?  Well guess what, it has no impact on your car insurance premium - phew!  Visit their website to learn more about auto insurance, what it means for you, and be prepared with real facts for your next office chat.


Disclosure: Although this post has generously been sponsored by Insurance Bureau of Canada, the opinions and language are all my own, and in no way do they reflect Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Thirty-one Gifts in Canada!

Did you know Canada..  Thirty-one Gifts is now available in Canada.  We have all the details from one of their first consultants - Devin..

Thirty-one Gifts is now in full swing!.....in CANADA!

We are a brand new Direct Sales Company to Canada selling some amazing products. From totes or purses you can wear while you’re out and about, thermals to help you transport food and drinks to a party, or organizational items to help you keep your house neat and tidy, Thirty-One has a solution!

Thirty-one Gifts is all over the USA with over 80,000 consultants. Thirty-one Gifts Canada, launched its pilot project in Ontario, September of 2012 with a team of 16 women in Ontario. I was lucky enough to be part of this first team and I have not looked back since opening my kit in Aug 2012. This is such a wonderful company! As of January 15, we are proud to say that we are no longer in the pilot project stage! We are now free to recruit some more amazing women to join our team! Just think of the possibilities of joining a company from the ground floor!

By becoming a Thirty-One Consultant, you'll discover the freedom of owning your own business and the opportunity for unlimited earning potential. You'll also find that Thirty-One offers so much more than just a career and extra income. We're here to Celebrate, Encourage and Reward your efforts. You'll have the pleasure of working with supportive and encouraging women just like you! You'll set your own schedule, and those flexible hours allow you to devote much-needed time to your family – and yourself.

Whether you're looking for the blessing of meeting new friends, finding new paths to personal growth or financial rewards like paying monthly bills, Thirty-One is perfect for you! Open your world to Thirty-One, and here are just a few of the opportunities you'll find:

• * A faith-based company devoted to supporting and encouraging women
• * Trend-setting products that appeal to all ages, plus affordable personalization
• * Self-paced online training
• * Parties where friends gather to have fun without high-pressure sales pitches
• * Online parties and online ordering capabilities
• * Online customer and Consultant referral
• * Special rewards and discounts

Partnering with our enthusiastic Home Office staff and other Thirty-One Consultants

This business can change your life! I'll be there to guide you on your personal journey to success as YOU define it.

Please contact me at devin@mythirtyone.ca for more information. I can’t wait to get you on your way to fulfilling your dreams!

To BOOK A PARTY or to ORDER ONLINE

Go to www.mythirtyone.ca/devin

Balanced Day Bags Support Breast Cancer

Did you know Canada.. Canadian company Balanced Day Bags makes fantastic lunch bags for children and adults. At many schools across the nation children's school day now consists of the balanced day, where they have 2 separate nutritional breaks instead of one lunch.

Balanced Day Bags is also supporting Breast Cancer with their Pink Ribbon bag for adults. $5.00 from every Pink Ribbon Pattern is donated to Breast Cancer Research! These bags are perfect for any lunch but especially the right size for those on 12 hour shifts and need a larger container. You can Organize foods into 2 separate compartments: Lunch / Supper, Hot / Cold, or Snack / Meal. Their Pink Ribbon Package deal comes with great savings!

Made with safe, non-toxic materials, easy to clean vinyl shell, elastic straps to hold drinks in place, and a zippered compartment on the inside of each flap for ice packs and cutlery - they've thought of everything. This would make a fantastic gift for the upcoming holiday season and a great way to show your support for Breast Cancer month.

I received a bag and was very pleased with the quality, size and style of the bag. This is perfect for any lunch, great for bring snacks in the car and more. They also have a great line of accessories - I LOVE those ice packs, too cool!

A fantastic Canadian company to support while they support Breast Cancer Research!!

Check your mail boxes Tuesday!

Did you know Canada.. Canada Post has initiated the process to resume operations following the passage of back to work legislation (Bill C-6). Employees will begin to report to work for their regularly scheduled shifts on Monday June 27 and on Tuesday June 28.

According to Canada Post..

Canadian consumers and businesses can expect to start receiving mail on Tuesday, June 28.

Post offices that were closed will start to reopen on Tuesday and resume regular operations.

All mailboxes will be unsealed starting on Monday and ready to receive mail as soon as possible.

Canada Post heading back to work!

Did you know Canada.. we are in luck! Just at 8pm on Saturday night The House gave third reading to the Canada Post back-to-work bill and by a vote of 158-113 it was passed. The house then adjourned for summer.

The Senate will receive the bill on Sunday morning and it should be a go for Canada Post back to work some time next week. In fact, according to Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, The back-to-work order would go into force 24 hours after receiving royal assent.

If you can believe this came to conclusion after a 58 hour filibuster! The Conservative government says the old record of non-stop debate was 27.5 hours which was set in 1989.

Canada Post/CUPW Talks Break Off

Did you know Canada.. the talks between Canada Post and the CUPW broke off Wednesday night. It is now up to our government to send Canada Post workers back to work and end the work stoppage.

As we mentioned before the government actually starts their summer break today but some good news - they say they will sit through the weekend if necessary to get the bill passed through government. It could be as early as today but as we mentioned before the NDP has previously said they would stall these proceedings. Now that talks have broken off the stalling may no longer be necessary though. Another road block may be that Friday is St. Jean Baptiste Day and the Liberals feel it is inappropriate to sit during this Quebec holiday.

Personally I'll be happy even with next week as long as it happens and the mail starts getting delivered again!

Social-Assistance cheques delivered today

Update: Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt introduced the bill to force an end to the work stoppage this afternoon. Unfortunately they only have a couple days to pass the bill before the Commons rises for the summer on Thursday.

Did you know Canada.. today is the day the social-assistance cheques are being delivered even though Canada Post is in a lock-out situation. It's over 9,000 letter carriers that are volunteering to provide this service to Canadians who depend on these cheques to live month-to-month.

There might be some more good news coming today as the government is expected to table back-to-work legislation that would force an end to the work stoppage. If passed, an arbitrator would settle the contract dispute with an agreement that would be binding on both sides.

We'll keep you up to date on the situation!

Canada Post Strike June 15

Update with good news:  Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has given 48 hours notice of her intention to introduce a bill to end Canada Post's lockout.

Did you know Canada.. we've woken up to some bad news today.. Following 12 days of increasingly costly rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canada Post has suspended operations across the country.

The believe that a lockout is the best way to bring a timely resolution to this impasse and force the union to seriously consider proposals that address declining mail volumes and the $3.2-billion pension deficit.

So just to reiterate: There will be no mail delivery across the country until the strike is resolved.

Canada Post Strike Update June 8

Did you know Canada.. Canada Post Strike is about to affect everyone.

Starting next week Canada Post will only be delivering Monday, Wednesday and Friday across Canada in urban areas.

According to Canada Post delivery of mail to rural mailboxes and community mailboxes will continue five days a week where service is provided by Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs) who operate under a separate collective agreement than urban employees.

Post Office operating hours and access to post office boxes will remain unchanged.

Most small packages and documents will also be delivered three days a week. Every effort will be made to continue to deliver priority items five days a week.

How do you feel about these new changes in service while the strike continues?

Canada Post Strike Update June 6

Did you know Canada.. some more news from the Canada Post Strike. While Montreal ends their 1 day strike at 11:30pm The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says its Moncton and Victoria locals will begin 24-hour strikes in both cities at midnight tonight.

They are also saying that after careful consideration, Canada Post has again turned down an offer put forward by CUPW as part of labour negotiations.

The reason for the rejection they say is that the union’s latest offer does not offer realistic solutions to problems such as declining mail volumes, increasing competition, and electronic substitutions of traditional mail.

So at this point it's not looking good for the strike being resolved quickly as both sides continue to disagree.

Where the Canada Post Strike is heading next

Did you know Canada.. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it's Montreal local that will begin a 24-hour strike at 11:30 p.m. tonight while Hamilton ends their strike tonight.

In the meantime, Canada Post’s negotiating team is reviewing the latest offer put forward by CUPW and is seeking clarity on several points proposed by the union.

Canada Post says it is looking for CUPW to propose realistic solutions to problems such as declining mail volumes, increasing competition, and electronic substitutions of traditional mail.

StickerYou

Did you know Canada.. I got to try the coolest service - mark your own stickers from StickerYou.

StickerYou has the COOLEST create your own sticker app where you pay per page for as many stickers as you want to fit on that page.  The app lets you select images grouped my themes, add text, resize images including your own photos and more.

What I did was upload my logo, sized it how I wanted it and used the app to repeat it on the page and fit it so I could get as many as possible. You don't have to use your own photos either they have TONS of really fun images for you to choose from.

This is a fantastic service for so many people - businesses, personalized sticker sheets for kids birthdays, really funky stickers for teenagers, personalized labels from around the home, wine labels, shower gifts and more.

From their website..

StickerYou was founded in 2008 by Andrew Witkin, who was inspired during a walk on Los Angeles’ Manhattan Beach when he noticed how stickers played a huge role in the local scene and culture but realized how difficult it was for individuals to create ‘cool’ stickers themselves.

StickerYou has raised growth capital from a prominent group of Canadian angels, including Jason Chapnik (Chairman of Dealer.com), Greg Coleman (Romspen Investment Corporation), Jordan Banks through his investment firm Thunder Road Capital, K2 and Associates Investment Management, and Jonathan Graff (Co-President of Benecaid).

StickerYou is based in Toronto, Canada.

Make it Stick!

I highly recommend StickerYou - it's a really fun process from start to finish and you end up with quality work, perfect colours and really cool stickers.

Follow them on Twitter @StickerYou, Facebook and the web!


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Canada Post Strike Update June 2

Did you know Canada.. according to this article in thestar and cupw.ca Canada Post is starting with rotating strikes. This means you may still get mail tomorrow!

If no agreement is reached by 11:59pm tonight it's Winnipeg local that will be on strike first for 24 hours, moving to other cities to be announced later.

As posted by the CUPW..

The purpose of this strike activity is to encourage Canada Post Corporation to abandon their proposals for significant concessions and instead negotiate solutions to the very real problems that are being experienced by 48,000 postal workers.

Winnipeg has been chosen as the location for the first strike activity because it was the first city to be impacted by Canada Post's modernization program. The results have been a sharp deterioration of service to the public as well as a host of health and safety problems experienced by postal workers due to the new work methods and equipment.

CUPW has negotiations demands designed to resolve these problems and we want Canada Post to address them.


Click here for a List of Governments and Departments Opting to Have Social Assistance Cheques Delivered in the Event of a Postal Strike or Lockout.