Vol. 144, No. 26 — June 26, 2010

Regulations Amending the Mail Receptacles Regulations

Statutory authority

Canada Post Corporation Act

Sponsoring agency

Canada Post Corporation

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

These proposed technical amendments to the Mail Receptacles Regulations would modernize and clarify specifications for mail box assemblies in apartment buildings and for rural mail boxes.

Description and rationale

The Mail Receptacles Regulations, made under the Canada Post Corporation Act, set out the requirements for receptacles or devices used for the collection, delivery or storage of mail. The purpose of these proposed amendments is twofold:

• to enhance the security of the mail being delivered to apartment buildings and rural mail boxes, given the growing threat of identity theft and fraud; and
• to help ensure the health and safety of delivery employees.

Apartment building owners are currently required to provide tenants with mail boxes that are securely locked. The amendments would update the specifications for mail box assemblies in apartment buildings, recognizing that modern lock boxes are made only of metal, with no additional slots, to discourage tampering and theft. In order to ensure the privacy of tenants, the requirement to have a name on the box would be removed. The maximum and minimum heights for lock boxes would also be clarified. To enable delivery employees to reach the boxes comfortably and safely, no part of the boxes could be higher than 170 cm or lower than 45 cm from the floor.

In the interests of privacy and security, rural mail boxes would no longer be required to show the customer’s name, although customers could retain their names if they wish. A civic address would need to be shown where civic addressing has been implemented in the municipality and in the relevant Canada Post delivery office. In the alternative, if a civic address has not been implemented in the municipality, customers could contact a local postal official to obtain a secure designator to be used in lieu of their name.

Consultation

Canada Post Regional Delivery Planning officers communicate with Canada Post’s customers, including builders and developers, with respect to delivery matters on a regular basis. These proposed Regulations incorporate the feedback received through ongoing discussions.

The Canada Post Corporation Act requires a consultation period through publication of the regulatory proposal in the Canada Gazette. All representations must be sent to the Minister of Transport. The representations will be taken into consideration in the preparation of the final regulatory proposal.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The Mail Receptacles Regulations are enforced by Canada Post under the Canada Post Corporation Act. No increase in the cost of enforcement is expected as a result of the proposed changes.

The Regulations would come into force on January 17, 2011.

Contact

Georgette Mueller
Director
Regulatory Affairs
Canada Post Corporation
2701 Riverside Drive, Suite N0980C
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0B1
Telephone: 613-734-7576
Fax: 613-734-8245
Email: georgette.mueller@canadapost.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 20(1) of the Canada Post Corporation Act (see footnote a), that the Canada Post Corporation, pursuant to subsection 19(1) (see footnote b) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Mail Receptacles Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to the Minister of Transport, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6.

Ottawa, June 26, 2010

CANADA POST CORPORATION

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE MAIL RECEPTACLES REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. Paragraph 16(c) of the Mail Receptacles Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(c) identified by having the following information printed in permanent lettering not less than 2.5 cm high on the side of the box or on a plate securely attached to the box and placed so as to be visible to the courier as they approach the box while driving on the right-hand side of the road according to their line of travel:

(i) if civic addressing has been implemented in the municipality and the relevant post office, the civic address or the civic address and the boxholder’s name, and

(ii) if civic addressing has not been implemented in the municipality, the boxholder’s name or a specific Canada Post designator in lieu of the boxholder’s name, as arranged with the local postmaster.

2. Section 2 of Schedule III to the Regulations is renumbered as subsection 2(1) and is amended by adding the following:

(2) All parts of the boxes of the top and bottom rows must fit within the height requirements set out in subsection (1).

3. Section 6 of Schedule III to the Regulations is replaced by the following:

6. Each box in a mail box assembly must have a holder in which the apartment number of the tenant may be placed in such a manner that the number is readily visible to the post office representative who is placing mail in the box.

4. (1) Subparagraph 7(c)(ii) of Schedule III to the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(ii) is constructed of metal,

(2) Subparagraph 7(c)(iv) of Schedule III to the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(iv) has a master lock that is firmly anchored through the entire thickness of the door.

5. Section 11 of Schedule III to the Regulations is repealed.

COMING INTO FORCE

6. These Regulations come into force on January 17, 2011.

[26-1-o]

Footnote a
R.S., c. C-10

Footnote b
S.C. 1992, c. 1, s. 34

Footnote 1
SOR/83-743

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).