Canada Post is looking for a new chief executive. The federal government opened applications on Tuesday, and the man who has run the corporation since 2019, Doug Ettinger, is retiring.
Ettinger’s term ends on March 3, 2027. He will stay in the job until a successor is appointed. Applications for the post close on October 6, 2026, and the notice of appointment opportunity is on the Governor in Council appointments website — it is an open, competency-based competition, not an internal move.
The announcement came as a statement from Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, who framed the vacancy around what the next chief executive will have to do rather than around the departure. “Canada Post is at a pivotal moment,” he said, pointing to the new agreement with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the measures he announced in September 2025 as having given the corporation “much needed stability.”
What he says the government is looking for: someone who can “execute an ambitious vision while strengthening Canadians’ confidence in Canada Post,” leading a transformation that “embraces new technologies, responds to changing demographics, and positions Canada Post to serve Canadians in the 21st century.”
Lightbound thanked Ettinger for ten years at the corporation and wished him “a well-deserved retirement.”
The statement does not say what the transformation will involve beyond the measures already announced last September, and it does not name a target date for appointing a successor.
Source: Public Services and Procurement Canada, statement, “Government of Canada launches selection process to find Canada Post’s next President and Chief Executive Officer”, September 8, 2026.
