Update
This story was updated Nov. 26 following confirmation that St. Albert Canada Post workers were collecting Santa letters while on the picket line.
Jodie McFadzen says she remembers waking up on Christmas morning and looking forward to seeing a letter from Santa Claus in her stocking.
Now, the St. Albert shop owner has stepped up to make sure those letters to St. Nick get through this December despite the ongoing Canada Post strike.
Canada Post workers have been on strike since Nov. 15. The strike has disrupted mail and package deliveries nationwide, and also put the company’s long-running Santa Letter program on ice.
Canada Post established its Santa Letter program in around 1982, the CBC reports. Under it, anyone who sends a letter to Santa Claus at the North Pole (postal code H0H 0H0) between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31 can get a reply from Santa (or possibly a Canada Post volunteer writing on his behalf). Some 30 million letters in 39 languages, including Braille, had been received and answered in this way as of December 2020.
The CBC reports that some Canada Post workers in Montreal have been collecting letters to Santa to deliver during the strike. St. Albert Canada Post workers had set up a drop-box for Santa letters at the Perron St. picket line as of Nov. 26.
Owner steps up
McFadzen is the owner of the UPS Store #65 in St. Albert. On Nov 19, she announced on Facebook that she had set up a festive drop box in her store for letters to be delivered to Santa.
“Growing up as kids, we used to write to Santa too,” she said, and she always looked forward to getting a reply. Her own children also write letters to Santa.
McFadzen, whose mother worked for Canada Post and wrote replies to Santa letters, said she decided to open this letter box to carry on this family tradition. She emphasized that this was something she was doing on her own and not a UPS initiative.
But how did McFadzen reach Santa’s Workshop to set up this delivery service?
“We ship anywhere in the world, so I’ve got contacts everywhere!” she joked.
McFadzen said she and her staff plan to write replies to any Santa letters they receive by Dec. 21. The replies (along with bags of treats) should be ready for in-store pickup by Dec. 23. She asked writers to include their address and phone number on their letters so staff could call them to collect their replies.
McFadzen said she planned to offer this service even if the Canada Post strike ends before Christmas. She had received a handful of letters as of Nov. 25, and had no idea how many would come in.
McFadzen said her store has been extremely busy since the strike began, and has sometimes had a line of customers stretching out the door. Canada Post workers had been directing customers to her for days prior to the strike to ensure their packages got delivered on time.
The St. Albert UPS Store is located at 3–11 Bellerose Dr. and open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 780-460-3666 for details.
