Canada Post strike affecting Harvest Sample Program

The CGC is asking farmers to drop samples off in person

The ongoing Canada Post strike is affecting farmers’ abilities to send harvest samples to the Canadian Grain Commission.

Growers participating in the voluntary Harvest Sample Program, which provides free unofficial grade and quality results, will have to make other arrangements.

On its website, the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) is asking farmers to drop samples off at any one of multiple locations.

These include the CGC’s headquarters at 303 Main St. in Winnipeg, Man., or any of its 10 service centres across the country.

In addition, multiple individual locations are coming online as drop-off points.

These include:

• BroadGrain Commodities Inc. – Highway 6 and 16 in Dafoe, Sask.,
• Bunge – 74041 Highway 845 in Lethbridge County, Alta.,
• Any Paterson grain elevator in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Alberta, and
• Sakai Spice – 4201 – 2^nd Ave. North, Lethbridge, Alta.

Couriering samples to a temporary drop off point would come at a farmer’s expense.

The CGC will update the list are more locations come on board.

The CGC has three upcoming deadlines for producers involved with the Harvest Sample Program.

Growers must mail samples by Nov. 30.

Dec. 31 is the last day to have samples inspected and analyzed, and April 1, 2026, is the last day to get results and update crops online.

The grain commission also suggests farmers can keep their samples until the Canada Post strike is over.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Joël Lightbound, the minister responsible for Canada Post, met Wednesday evening about the ongoing disruption.

No details have emerged about the meeting, but the union said the meeting would “focus on the Union’s response to the Minister’s September 25 announcement as well as the Employer’s latest contract offers.”

Farms.com publications are also affected by the mail strike.

Subscribers to Better Farming Prairies, Better Farming Ontario, or Small Farm Canada won’t receive physical copies of the magazine as the strike continues, but readers can access online versions.