WASHINGTON, June 17, 2011 — Due to the expectation by Canada Post officials that the strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will last until at least sometime next week, the U.S. Postal Service will suspend accepting mail destined to Canada — effective Saturday, June 18, 2011, 11:59 p.m. CDT — with the exception of Global Express Guaranteed shipments.

“As a convenience to our customers and to minimize service disruptions, we arranged to accept mail destined for Canada as long as possible,” said Giselle Valera, vice president, Global Business. “We will continue to closely monitor the strike situation, and once Canada Post resumes operations, the U.S. Postal Service will again begin accepting mail for Canada. We also will then resume processing any Canadian-destined mail currently held in our network.”

To avoid service disruptions or delays — regardless of the duration of the strike at Canada Post — U.S. Postal Service customers can continue to send letters and packages via the Postal Service’s Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) service. GXG is a premium, date-certain international shipping option with international transportation and delivery by FedEx Express. GXG is available online at www.usps.com and at thousands of participating retail locations throughout the United States.

Additional information and updates regarding acceptance and movement of international mail is available at www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.