On January 16, Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) Distribution Committee Chairman Fred Heidman, CCNA Managing Director Tina Ongkeko and I spoke with representatives of Canada Post Corporation (Canada Post) in Ottawa.
Since that initial discussion, we have continued talking with Canada Post on options surrounding the flyer insert issue, which was prompted by proposed changes to Admail. There are a number of ideas currently being discussed and we hope to continue the working relationship we have created.
We are also talking with Canada Post about other issues of interest to CCNA members. A major item is the new 250-piece threshold for national Publications Mail that many of our members have expressed confusion over.
It is important for members to realize the Publications Mail threshold does not apply if the national mailing contains regional or local rural addresses. Communications from Canada Post did not originally say how much of the mailing had to be regional or rural. Canada Post has, however, recently announced that it must be 50 per cent of the mailing. This limit should not affect most CCNA publications as regional is broadly defined as an address located in the same or adjacent province. Therefore the limit will only apply if 50 per cent of your mailing is going outside of your own province or the province on either side or your newspaper.
Another item we are looking into is the impact that changes in Publications Mail rates are having on the Publications Assistance Program (PAP). There is some evidence that Canada Post is not applying the subsidy to some classes or mail. If members are being affected by this, please let me know (Phone: 1-877-305-2262 ext. 26; E-mail: jhinds@ccna.ca).