Last year's sale of the downtown Vancouver mail processing plant helped offset losses at Canada Post in 2013, however, the Crown corporation still reports operating losses of $193 million.
Transaction mail — typically letters and bills — dropped 5.3% or 230 million pieces last year compared with 2012, according to the May 5 announcement from Canada Post.
Although parcel mail revenues increased by $93 million compared with the year before, it wasn't enough to offset the decline of transaction mail, which accounts for half of Canada Post's revenue.
Operating losses would have been higher had it not been for the money generated from the one-time sale of Vancouver's downtown mail processing plant in January 2013 for $109 million.
The Crown corporation said it managed to reduce operating costs by $60 million in 2013 compared with the year before, but that wasn't enough to stem the tide of Canadians' transition from physical mail to digital communications.
