Charities in B.C. taking hit as Canada Post strike continues [Video]

This year’s Giving Tuesday will look very different for B.C. charities, who say the ongoing Canada Post strike has led to significantly fewer donations.

More than 55,000 workers with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been off the job since Nov. 15, and their negotiations with the Crown corporation were on hold Monday, while the government called for a swift resolution.

As a result of the strike, which has seen thousands of packages and letters held up, B.C. charities haven’t been able to send out their end-of-year brochures — and aren’t able to receive cash or cheque donations in the mail.

Angela Chapman, Vancouver General Hospital and University of B.C. Hospital Foundation CEO, said donations to the foundation are down 15 per cent compared with the last two years.

“We’re estimating that the impact with the current drop in sales will be about $1 million,” she told CBC News.

Chapman said her foundation usually raffles away …