After consistent lobbying by the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA), Canada Post Corporation (CPC) has decided to lower its 250-piece Publications Mail threshold to 50 on April 1. CCNA members will be hearing from their local postal officials about the new threshold.
In December 2003, CCNA became aware of changes to Canada Post mailing guidelines that were due to begin January 12, 2004. One of the new guidelines was the 250-piece threshold for Publications Mail. This announcement began a series of communications between CPC and CCNA leading to previously announced changes in the Unaddressed Admail program and now the Publications Mail program, to be significantly altered to the industryÔÇÖs benefit.
In the March 2004 issue of The Publisher, CCNA Executive Director John Hinds commented on the situation, saying many publishers, as a result of the increased threshold, were not mailing to their out-of-area subscribers. ÔÇ£It makes no sense to have to start paying first class mail to send a newspaper from Nelson to Vancouver,ÔÇØ Hinds said.