Canada Post keeps halting mail service to Toronto buildings due to maskless residents
Even though donning a face mask has become second nature in Toronto ever since the garment was mandated in all indoor public spaces back in July, Canada Post employees continue to encounter issues delivering mail to condo and apartment buildings where residents aren't wearing masks in common areas.
It started with one East York building in December, 72 Gamble Ave., at which the Crown corporation said people were not following public health and safety guidelines about physical distancing and face coverings.
It suspended service to the address as a result, directing tenants to instead come pick up their mail at the Canada Post location on Commisssioners Street in the Port Lands, a 15-minute drive, 40-minute transit trip or more than one hour-long walk away.
The decision, made in the interest of frontline postal workers, was eventually reversed when building management vowed to work with Canada Post to resolve the issue — but it's continued to happen at other buildings since.
Their mail isn’t lost though, it’s at a Canada Post office where the environment/health & safety can be controlled.
— The Beaver (@BeaversAdvocate) February 28, 2021
The residents of those apartment buildings are creating and unsafe working environment for postal staff.
Honestly surprised this isn’t happening more elsewhere
The latest are 100 and 150 Graydon Hall Drive, two highrise apartment towers at the juncture of Highway 401 and the Don Valley Parkway in North York.
Unlike in previous cases, the residents of these addresses will not have to travel all the way to Commissioners to retrieve their mail for the foreseeable future, but will have to go to a depot at 70 Wynford Dr., which is still not at all in their neighbourhood.
Canada Post told the CBC in a statement that they have reached out to building management regarding individuals not wearing masks on the premises, which is these days "a common courtesy to others, especially those working to provide a service."
Mail delivery to the buildings will return when the corporation feels it is fully safe for its staff to enter.
Not necessarily. They are considered front line workers. They shouldn't take the risk of getting sick because people living in these buildings decide that they don't want to wear masks in public.
— Beautiful Homes Photography (@keetharni) March 1, 2021
Though the City's masking bylaws initially did not include private residences, the rule was quickly extended to enclosed communal spaces like the lobbies, elevators, and hallways of such buildings.
But, it is up to building owners or management to inform residents of the policy and enforce it, and tenants will not be denied entry to their home if they didn't have a mask on hand — but apparently, they can lose access to things like receiving their mail.
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