LAURIE WEIR
PORTLAND — Rural residents, did you know that red flag on your mailbox means only one thing; that you have outgoing mail?
Canada Post has issued a directive to its delivery employees and contractors, clarifying what the red signal flag is meant to do. The notice comes after customer complaints and internal confusion prompted a review of delivery procedures and safety protocols.
The red flag is to be used by residents to indicate that they have outgoing mail for pickup. It is not to be used by carriers to signal that mail has been delivered.
Among the affected procedures is the Rural Mailbox Guidelines which outlines the national standards for placement, maintenance and usage of rural mailboxes. The form confirms that signal devices, such as the red flag, are used by customers to indicate that there is outgoing mail to be picked up.
Rural delivery staff have been instructed by their supervisors to ensure the change is clearly understood and applied across all routes.
“The Canada Post Ombudsman’s Office recommended a review of the use of signal devices (red flags) on rural mailboxes. Upon review, our National Collection and Delivery team determined that the only purpose of the signal device on rural mailboxes is for the customer to signal to the delivery agents that there is outgoing mail to collect,” Geneviève Joly, manager of media relations told Hometown News on Friday, Aug. 1. “As such, we have updated our procedures nationally and local operations teams will advise customers as needed. We thank customers for their cooperation.”
Tough transformation
In a message posted to a community Facebook page in Rideau Lakes Township last week, rural delivery driver Peter Ellis shared an open letter to residents of two rural routes in Portland, confirming the message from Canada Post.
“As your letter carrier, I feel obligated to advise you … Canada Post has recently implemented an important change,” Ellis wrote. “When I now put mail into your roadside mailbox, I am not to raise your flag to advise you that you have mail.”
Ellis said that although he has followed the old practice for years, and it will be a tough transition.
One rural resident said Ellis must be as “frustrated as us who, for all my life living with a mailbox that a flag up means mail. What a ridiculous situation.”
Another resident who lives in rural Elgin said she wondered why the flag wasn’t up when she had mail, although the flag raising by the delivery driver has been sporadic.
Safety is another issue: “This is really bad for the seniors that have to walk across Hwy. 15 to check the box with nothing in it.”
In nearby Elizabethtown-Kitley Township, delivery drivers have been raising the flag if addressed mail is in the box, but not for flyer delivery.
“I go to the mailbox every day regardless. Half the time the flag doesn’t stay up when it’s supposed to anyway,” said one resident.
Ellis said he did get some clarification from Canada Post on the method of delivery: “It appears the red flag works both ways. Firstly, it is meant to alert letter carriers that outgoing mail is ready for pick-up (Canada Posts’ interpretation). Secondly, as a courtesy, we as letter carriers can, at our discretion, use the flag as a way to let the customer know they have mail. Very confusing to all of us but yet most of us have been using this method for years. Flag up for mail to be picked up, flag up for incoming mail.”
You’ve got mail, or do you?
In many communities, it has been common for carriers to raise the flag after mail delivery to indicate mail had been delivered. The practice was never part of Canada Post’s official policy, but it wasn’t prohibited either.
The original concept of rural mailbox flags dates back to early postal systems in North America. According to historical archives from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and rural mail delivery records in both Canada and the United States, the red flag system was first introduced as a practical signal for outgoing mail. In sparsely populated areas where homes could be far apart, residents needed a simple way to alert carriers they had mail to send. Raising a small, visible flag on the side of the box became the solution.
Joly said if customers have questions regarding their postal services, they can contact Canada Post’s Customer Service team online at canadapost.ca/support or by telephone at 1-866-607-6301 (TTY: 1-800-267-2797).
