People living in illegal suites around Greater Victoria may find they are not receiving their usual bills, flyers or other deliveries from Canada Post.
As part of a regular review of letter carriers’ routes, addresses that are not recognized as valid will have their mail delivery cut off, Canada Post spokesman John Caines said Monday.
“We go through all routes from A to Z to make sure the addresses are still there and they are still valid,” Caines said.
Route restructures are done across the country every few years, but Victoria has not been reviewed for some time, he said.
The main purpose is to look at timings for letter carriers and decide whether routes should be increased or decreased, he said.
Tom Gillespie, 68, was shocked to find that his office at A-954 Queens Ave. was not recognized as a legal address, and he is now working with Canada Post and the city to get back on the delivery route.
“My mail has been coming to this address for 30 years, and they have decided to cut me off,” said Gillespie, office manager and caretaker of the 10-unit complex.
The office was set up to allow mail about building maintenance and letters to the strata council to go to one address, said Gillespie, who also lives in the suite.
“I am concerned that so many others are going to be caught in this trap, and they are going to be the poorest of the poor and old people,” he said. “People on social assistance have to have a mailing address.”
However, Caines said few illegal addresses came to light in Victoria, so concerns that many people will be missing social assistance cheques or other essential mail are not justified.
“If they are living in illegal suites, they need to get that rectified with the city. That’s not our business. Our business is delivering mail to valid addresses,” Caines said.
“The other problem is that it’s a safety issue for the city because, if there’s an emergency there and a truck comes looking for that address, it does not exist on the map,” he said.
City of Victoria spokeswoman Katie Josephson said it is Canada Post that is responsible for decisions on what constitutes a legal address.
“While staff are aware that Canada Post has slowly been making some changes … the city has no policy related to this,” she said.
