Canada Post Corp. and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are in discussions about their labour agreement, with the possibility of a Canada Post labour disruption beginning July 2.

Canada Post began negotiating with two major unions at the end of 2015 and over several months, a lot of progress and movement was made.

Mouktar Abdillahi, Canada Post Spokesperson, said the company then requested a Conciliator.

"What that means is a third party comes in and helps both parties have more productive conversation. That started in early April and the process has 60 days of negotiation. One of the key elements of the process is the fact that there cannot be work disruptions in those periods."

The Conciliator process will come to a close at the end of June; after that there is no guarantee there will not be a strike.

Abdillahi said the company is working hard to avoid a strike and has been discussing three main issues with the unions:

1. A deal that is fair to employees.

2. A deal that is affordable for the corporation.

3. A deal that responds to customers needs as they are changing; customers are shopping 24/7 but Canada Post is structured as a 9-5 Monday-Friday service. When people are shopping on the weekend, it means that delivery is double time in terms of cost for labour and the company is looking for more flexibility around that.

He explains although there might not be a strike, Canada Post wants to make sure that Canadians prepare accordingly.