Let’s not forget also that if you live in a remote location, and somebody sends a parcel to you via UPS or one of the other private carriers, Canada Post is the one who gets it to the door (or local post office, if it’s a really small town).
It’s not profitable to get out there, but Canada Post must. The other carriers get to take a profit while forcing CP to take the loss.
Complain to them. Seriously. Sometimes there’s a reason you’re not aware of, but if your carrier is being a lazy shit, complain.
If you’re not able bodied, you can let Canada Post know and the carrier will bring it to your door once a week.
Put a sign in your mailbox saying “No Neighbourhood Mail Please” or “No Flyers Please” and you’ll stop getting most junk. You’ll still get some government stuff like bylaw announcements from the municipality or occasional notices from your MP or MLA, but it will cut out most of it.
Ah, that one’s tougher. Most of the time the sender isn’t paying for return service. For most advertising like that, anyway.
You can look at the postage on the top right… If it says “Personalized Mail” then it won’t be returned unless it says that it will underneath. “Postage Paid” or “Letter Mail,” or that extra note under “Personalized Mail” that says it will be returned (I forget the exact wording, but it’s obvious when it’s there), you can just draw a line through the name and address and leave it for the letter carrier or put it in a red box.
It’s still up to the sender to stop wasting their money, though.