Residents who live in Toronto’s downtown core will likely get to keep door-to-door home delivery because they represent few addresses, Canada Post says.

The Crown corporation is in the midst of replacing mail delivery at the door with community mailboxes across the country, part of sweeping reforms to cut costs. But the move has generated sit-ins, a huge outcry and lawsuits in some communities.

Canada Post has outlined a preliminary plan for the switchover in Toronto, which it has shared with municipal officials. It is spelled out in a report that will be going to the city’s planning and growth committee next Thursday.

Based on rough estimates, Canada Post considers the downtown core to be bordered by Bathurst St., Bloor St., the Don Valley Parkway and the lake, where more than 22,000 addresses would keep door-to-door mail delivery.

That area is made up of mostly businesses and almost 122,000 addresses representing individuals who live in apartments or condos with lobby delivery, and are unaffected by the changes.

Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said that in the core, deliveries to businesses and residential addresses that have central delivery — both of which are not slated for community mailboxes — represent 90 per cent of the total number of deliveries, so it makes sense to maintain the status quo.

The postal service has not made any similar decision in other big cities yet.

Those who live in what Canada Post is deeming “dense urban” neighbourhoods — roughly bordered by Jane St.-South Kingsway in the west, Lawrence Ave. in the north, Victoria Park Ave. in the east — would see the switchover in 2018 and 2019.

The remaining residents in Toronto, covering almost 350,000 addresses, would be the first to switch to community mailboxes starting 2017.

Toronto Councillor Janet Davis (open Janet Davis's policard), who has raised concerns about Canada Post’s plan to end door-to-door delivery, said it would mean different services, depending on where you live.

“It’s clear it will be two-tier service delivery,” Davis said. “It’s the first we have seen of their plans. They have been very coy about how they were going to proceed.”

She added the report still offers very few specifics.

“We still have no real information about how Canada Post is going to proceed,” Davis said. “I think the people of Toronto have a right to know what locations they intend to use and when they intend to install these boxes.”

Canada Post is promising to consult with residents, and has already begun discussions with Toronto officials even though the switch won’t happen for several years, in some cases, because it is the largest urban centre in the country, Hamilton said.

“Our plan is to always work with communities,” he said. “We know large urban centres have challenges that we have to address ... and possibly look at alternate solutions.”

That means finding the right location to install the boxes, which hold 16 slots as well as locked boxes for parcels, on public rights-of-way. Another option is to have the boxes set up in publicly accessible businesses.

The city staff report acknowledges that Canada Post officials have indicated they will work with city staff and “are open to mailbox design modifications and will not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to design and placement.”

However, staff remain concerned about “the visual and streetscape impact of installing high volumes of new equipment on city streets,” increased litter and traffic, as well as the feasibility of installing those boxes in densely populated areas, the report says.

Transportation services and planning departments will need to develop new guidelines to respect city policies such as heritage conservation districts and vibrant streets initiatives.

“City staff do not believe that guidelines alone will be sufficient to manage the physical and visual impact on city streets and are requesting that other options, including placing mailboxes in local stores, be considered to the extent possible,” the report says.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, who is responsible for Canada Post, said the government supports the switchover so thepostal servicecan be self-sufficient.

“It’s also important that they do it in a way that makes the person who is going to be affected feel comfortable about the change,” Raitt said in an interview.

Last year, Canada Post converted about 100,000 addresses, including 26,000 in Oakville. It is currently making the switch in communities across the GTA, including Richmond Hill, Halton Hills, Milton and Whitby.

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It faced stiff opposition in Hamilton, where the city council passed a bylaw requiring Canada Post to pay $200 for a permit per site, and receive municipal sign-off for locations.

Canada Post fought back, saying as a Crown corporation, the bylaw infringed on federal regulations that gives it the power to have final say over placement of boxes. An Ontario Superior Court judge sided with Canada Post in a decision this week.

Where will the boxes be?

Canada Post says it has established criteria for where individual community boxes will be found:

Preferred placement

Along the side of corner lots

At or near parks or other public spaces

Where walkways and sidewalks are present

Proximity to existing street lighting

Where Canada Post already has street furniture at or near the location

Avoid placement

In front of schools, school loading zones and crosswalks

Along the front of a house

In a cul-de-sac, unless the box site only serves that cul-de-sac

In areas where snow removal will be an issue or where clearance at the box will be a problem

Source: Canada Post

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