There was a time when ink did not come from printers and letters were not electronic. But the days of paper mail are fading, so Canada Post is simplifying its delivery service.

Roger Tailleur, supervisor at St. Albert’s letter carrier department, said Canada Post used to employ a number of contractors who brought the mail to postal boxes around town where it was picked up by letter carriers and delivered to homes.

With fewer people sending mail, these boxes became redundant and so did the number of people working in delivery. Now all parcels and letters are placed in postal vans in the morning and driven to their final destination.

“Now (letter carriers) just park their van, grab some parcels and deliver them directly,” Tailleur said.

Contractors will still deliver parcels in certain business areas around town, as well as during the Christmas season when postal services are in higher demand than usual.

After 32 years with Canada Post, St. Albert postal clerk Talia Chung said she’s seen the change coming for years.

While Christmas cards are as popular as ever, emails long ago replaced traditional handwritten letters. Instead, people use postal services for their online shopping which brought a rise in the number of parcels being delivered.

Seniors are the only ones who still pay their bills with cheques or send gift cards to their grandchildren. Chung said the occasional youngster who enters a postal office barely knows how to compose a letter.

“Half of them don’t know where to put the return address and then they wonder why it came back to them,” she said.

“Some don’t even know that they have to put a stamp on the letter.”

Canada Post started using the vans in St. Albert last Monday. Tailleur said the quality of the service will not be affected and residents probably won’t notice the change.

Except that their letter carrier is now called delivery agent, since he doesn’t just walk, but also drives.

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