'Unsafe to deliver to': Community housing tenants demand return of parcel delivery

Some tenants at a London community housing building say they feel they’re being denied an essential service because of where they live.

Canada Post has stopped delivering parcels to their door because of safety concerns for carriers who enter the building at 241 Simcoe Street.

“I ended up phoning Canada Post to find out where my package was,” explained exasperated tenant David Thom. “They said it was shipped back to the depot because this place was unsafe to deliver to.”

Thom, who gets around with the use of a cane, lives on the 12th floor of the high-rise building, and said he has trouble walking anything more than a short distance.

His friend and neighbour, Derrick Thomas, said he was informed by letter that parcels would no longer be delivered to his door. Thomas also experiences mobility issues, so the new development was quite upsetting, he said.

“Bad back, bad legs. They’re not supplying us with the support they’re supposed to give us,” he said.

Community housing building at 241 Simcoe Street in London, Ont. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)According to Thom, police attend issues at the building every day, so he understands why someone would have concerns. He said a postmaster informed him of recent traumatic events.

“He said in the past year there were three incidences with postal delivery people and one of them was a lady that got barricaded in the postmaster’s room. Eight police officers had to show up and get her out.”

Even still, Thom believes London and Middlesex Community Housing should work out an arrangement that gets parcels delivered to tenants in need.

Canada Post issued a statement to CTV News, as follows:

“We can confirm that residents of the apartment building located at 241 Simcoe Street are receiving their letter mail and small packets in their individual mailbox compartment, while larger parcels are carded for pick-up. Residents who receive a delivery notice card collect their package at the Carling Post Office located inside the Shoppers Drug Mart at 100 – 431 Richmond Street.

This approach was implemented many years ago after health and safety concerns were expressed by our employees. It is our responsibility to ensure that our employees, who visit hundreds of addresses every day, can deliver mail and parcels safely. As new possible long-term solutions arise, our teams evauate them and see if they are applicable in this situation.”

No one from London Middlesex Housing was available for an interview.

In the meantime, tenants like Thom say they just want the service back they believe they have a right to receive.

“London Housing should get better security in here, whether it’s a police officer in here every day to monitor this place so people are safe, or if Canada Post needs an escort to drop off their packages- Canada Post needs to deal with this, not us,” he said.

Police outside of the community housing building at 241 Simcoe Street in London, Ont. on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)