Dear Editor,
Some Canada Post customers, especially in rural Canada, have expressed some concern with the fact that they have been asked to provide photo identification when picking up items at the post office.
We have reviewed our policy and have come up with a compromise that we believe strikes a reasonable balance between convenience and our obligation to protect our customers from identity theft and fraud.
Where a customer is picking up mail for which no signature is required and is known to the person in the post office, no ID will be required. In cases where someone else is picking up a parcel for a third party, they would only have to show ID bearing the same address as the addressee. The change will be in effect by end of June.
Canada Post’s customer identification policy is intended to fight identity theft and help protect Canadians from mail fraud. Canada Post works with local, provincial and federal law-enforcement agencies in the prevention of identity theft and assists with investigations.
Public Safety Canada has identified identity theft as one of the fastest growing crimes in Canada and the USA. Identity thieves steal your name, social insurance number, credit cards and other key pieces of personal information—information that can be found in your mail— with the intent of committing crimes.
Canada Post’s customer identification policy is consistent with our competitors’ best practices, and in some instances less onerous.
This response to feedback from customers and employees will allow for more flexibility in relation to pick-up items that do not require a signature. That said, customers picking up items at the post office should always come prepared with valid government issued photo identification – they can’t always be certain the person serving them will be a personal acquaintance.
Sincerely,
John Caines
Canada Post