The recent Canada Post strike escalation may impact film and camera sales in Canada and elsewhere.
If you’ve ever shipped anything from Canada to the US (or the other way around), you may be aware of a slew of new challenges to commerce between our two countries — well, they just got worse.
Shipping to and from Canada via EMS (the standard and often the cheapest and most reliable international shipping method used by services like USPS, Royal Mail, and Australia Post) got disrupted last Thursday when Canada Post escalated its strike from limited service to a complete halt.
Canadians looking to get vintage camera gear or film may have to pay higher fees and deal with services like FedEx.
If you’re living outside Canada, you’re most likely unaffected, unless you’re buying from shops like Camera Traders, Downtown Camera, or online marketplaces like eBay and Etsy. However, if you’re selling prints, zines, or anything else to Canada, you won’t be able to ship via EMS: if you do, your package will get stuck.
FilmBase (filmbase.etsy.com), an Etsy shop I run from Canada, will continue shipping film and film cameras to US and Canadian addresses free of charge, without interruption. I will be using a private courier service. If you are a US customer, all prices now include tariffs, so you won’t need to worry about that either.
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The strike has been in effect for several months, but for the most part, it has been exercised as service limitations. However, after the Canadian government decided to cut home deliveries, thus eliminating thousands of jobs and a level of service one would expect, the union ordered a walkout. This is on top of the original dispute over wages that began nearly a year ago (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024…).
Dmitri Sep 28, ‘25