Who else ships things in the Northwest Territories?

While NWT residents might be closer to Santa’s workshop than most, the Canada Post strike will disrupt vital mail and parcel services this holiday season if it continues.

If you’re trying to find alternative ways to move gifts or other items while the strike is ongoing, there may be a few options, depending on where you live.

We called a range of companies to see what might be available. The options listed below weren’t set up to get around the strike or as a direct response to it, but instead are existing options you might not know about if you haven’t had to rely on them before.

Here’s what we have learned so far.

If you know of other options or represent a company that can assist people, email our newsroom and we’ll update this page with any more verified information we receive.

Air Tindi

In 2021, the Yellowknife-based airline began offering a parcel forwarding service called Air Tindi Link Express. The service allows people to have incoming packages shipped to Air Tindi’s headquarters in Yellowknife, which can then be forwarded to any of the communities that the airline flies to.

The airline offers delivery service to your door in Yellowknife and Fort Simpson for $17 plus tax per shipment. Parcels forwarded to customers in other locations can be picked up from the community airport.

Pick-up is also available from the Yellowknife cargo office at the airport or at Fort Simpson’s airport.

People who have outgoing packages to ship can head to Air Tindi’s website to request a quote. The minimum fee per package is $31.17 plus tax, or $47.40 plus tax for priority shipping.

Customers can see a full list of cargo rates on the Air Tindi website.

Buffalo Air Express

Buffalo Air Express says it is the largest courier and freight service in the territory. The company flies to many communities in the NWT and Alberta.

After this article was first published. Buffalo said it operates a shipping service where “people call our centralized dispatch to request door to door service.”

“We have employees that pick up freight in Edmonton, Calgary (and everywhere in between), High Level, Hay River, and work with partners in Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, Délı̨nę, Tulita, Inuvik and Cambridge Bay,” business development manager Sandy Macpherson said by email.

Macpherson said e-commerce volumes had increased dramatically since the pandemic, which meant the amount of freight received from overseas via FedEx or UPS had also increased. He said DHL shipments via Buffalo since the strike began had increased 15-fold.

Buffalo said its service is an “apples to oranges” comparison with Canada Post because its staff can pick up an item, fly it through the night and deliver it into someone’s hands. As a result, Macpherson said, Buffalo’s average shipping cost is “comparatively more expensive than Canada Post” if people are looking for alternatives.

While the company doesn’t have a list of fees available on its website, customers can book shipments online.

Canadian North Cargo

Canadian North Cargo offers service to communities across the North, including daily service from Edmonton to Yellowknife, Inuvik, and the Kitikmeot. The company also flies cargo to Norman Wells, Ulukhaktok, Fort Simpson and Hay River, as well as some other destinations through interline partners.

Canadian North Cargo offers specialized shipping services for things like pharmaceuticals, country food, pets and human remains.

A spokesperson for the company told us: “While this is not, nor intended to be a substitute for our national carrier, at this time of year – before ice roads are firm enough for road travel – Canadian North Cargo plays an important role in ensuring the delivery of goods to communities which are temporarily only accessible by air.

“We’re not doing anything differently as a result of the ongoing negotiations. We respect the right to collectively bargain, and we hope this dispute is resolved quickly and amicably.”

Canadian North Cargo’s rates and tariffs can be found on the airline’s website.

Cabin Radio entered the dimensions of Canada Post’s medium-sized flat-rate shipping box (39 cm x 26 cm x 12 cm and under five kilograms) into Canadian North Cargo’s quote calculator. According to the estimate, it would cost $43.62 to send the box from Inuvik to Norman Wells with the airline’s economy shipping service.

Northwestern Air

Northwestern Air offers cargo services aboard its passenger flights linking Edmonton, Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Fort Chipewyan, Hay River and High Level.

The airline did not have a price list available on its website and wasn’t able to provide more information before first publication of this article. We’ll update this page if we receive more details.

North-Wright Airways

North-Wright Airways provides cargo service to Norman Wells, Colville Lake, Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Yellowknife, Aklavik and Inuvik.

As with Air Tindi, North-Wright offers a freight forwarding service. While shopping online, customers can have purchases shipped to North-Wright’s office in Yellowknife, where it can then be forwarded on to the communities that the airline serves.

The company has a minimum shipping charge for this service that varies depending on where goods are being sent. The minimum to send a package from Yellowknife to Norman Wells is $41.96, though it could cost more, depending on the dimensions and weight of the parcel.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for North-Wright wrote that while most of the airline’s work is geared toward moving passengers versus cargo, “what we have been doing is putting on additional flights to help move as many people as possible, as many passengers are choosing to move their important freight as baggage to ensure it gets home in time for Christmas. 

“As we move forward we will continue to monitor the situation and place extra flights where we can to ensure our passengers and their baggage, and what cargo we can move, makes it home for the holidays.”

The spokesperson added that North-Wright has already answered several emergency calls for freight services and invites anyone who may be stuck to give them a call.

Other options

Cabin Radio also contacted FedEx, Purolator and Manitoulin Transport.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for FedEx wrote in part: “In light of the service disruption at Canada Post, FedEx has implemented a comprehensive contingency plan to manage volume demands.” However, the contingency plan was not specified.

We have not yet received a response from Purolator or Manitoulin Transport.

Latest on the Canada Post strike

In a statement posted to its website on Wednesday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers accused Canada Post of lying to the public in a statement made on Tuesday that said talks had “ground to a halt.”

The CUPW said it left negotiations on Tuesday because it cannot continue without Canada Post’s negotiators. The union said the employer’s negotiators had left to speak to the executive board of Canada Post for further direction.

In a later statement posted to CUPW’s website on Wednesday, the union wrote: “Canada Post refuses to drop its proposed rollbacks that will create a second class of worker and undermine good, full-time jobs. As a Crown corporation, Canada Post needs to lead by example, not engage in a race to the bottom with multinational corporate giants.”

In an emailed statement on Thursday, Canada Post wrote in part: “We understand the impact CUPW’s national strike is having on so many Canadians. We remain committed to negotiating new agreements that let all employees focus on the future, without adding new fixed costs that will hamper our future.”

Talks are understood to have completely broken down for the time being. The strike will be two weeks old as of Friday, November 29.

CUPW held a rally at Canada Post headquarters in Ottawa on Thursday morning to “send a strong message to the corporation to get back to the bargaining table and start negotiating real solutions to our problems,” according to a statement on the union’s website.

In Yellowknife, a rally is expected outside the downtown post office at noon on Friday.