Victoria, BC – The BC Ombudsperson released a report today outlining the results of his office’s investigation into the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction’s distribution of income and disability assistance cheques during the 2024 Canada Post strike.
The report, Stamp of Approval: Delivering income and assistance cheques during a postal strike, finds that while imperfect, the ministry’s response to the strike was satisfactory and assistance payments were delivered in a timely manner.
“The 2024 postal strike had the potential to impact thousands of people in BC in their ability to meet essential needs, be it food on the table, warm clothing, or a safe place to sleep,” said Ombudsperson Jay Chalke. “In this case, however, the ministry’s overall response was reasonable, and I am encouraged by its efforts to ensure cheques were distributed in a timely way.”
Data reviewed by the Ombudsperson’s office shows that in the two months before and the two months after the postal strike, cheques were cashed in an average of just over four days after being issued. During the two months of the strike, that average increased to seven days – a modest incremental delay that still meant the vast majority of cheques were cashed before the end of the month, when essential expenses such as rent are typically due.
“While any delay can be significant for social assistance recipients,” noted Chalke, “On average in this case, it was minor, with 99 per cent of cheques delivered by the end of each of the two postal strike months.”
The report finds that while the ministry’s strike planning and early public communications were limited, once the strike began, its efforts to deliver cheques were effective. The ministry made significant efforts to ensure cheques were distributed in a timely way.
The report also notes that the ministry has improved its planning for future service disruptions – to communicate with the public about its response earlier and continue to encourage those who are able, to enroll in direct deposit.
“Most of our public reports contain findings of unfairness by a public body. But that’s not the case here,” said Chalke. “When it happens, it is important to recognize good administration, and here, once the strike began the ministry responded well to the service disruptions posed by the postal strike. Furthermore, the ministry told us that the 2024 strike led to improvements for future postal strikes and we saw evidence of that in the ministry’s communication leading up to the most recent postal strike in September 2025.”
Read Stamp of Approval
