DHL Express has announced a temporary suspension of its shipping services to and from Canada, effective June 20, 2025 at 12:00 a.m. local time, due to unresolved labor negotiations and new legislation that limits contingency planning.
This suspension will significantly impact cross-border shipping between the U.S. and Canada for businesses relying on DHL Express.
What’s Changing and When
Final collection date: DHL will stop collecting shipments destined for or originating from Canada at 9:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Full service suspension: DHL Express operations in Canada will pause beginning Friday, June 20, 2025.
Why It’s Happening
DHL cites two major factors behind the suspension:
Ongoing labor action: After nearly a year of negotiations, DHL has not reached a new agreement with Unifor, the union representing a large portion of its Canadian operational staff and owner-operators.
New legislation (Bill C-58): This recent Canadian law prevents DHL from implementing contingency measures (like subcontracting or routing adjustments) to continue operations during a labor disruption.
What’s Not Affected
Other DHL business units remain operational:
DHL Global Forwarding
DHL Supply Chain
Inbound shipments for DHL eCommerce and Post & Parcel Germany
This suspension is limited to DHL Express services in and out of Canada.
What This Means for Shippers
If you use DHL Express for U.S.–Canada shipments, you’ll need to find alternative carriers until service resumes. The disruption may also lead to:
Delays for in-transit DHL Express shipments
Capacity strain on other carriers (like FedEx, UPS, and LTL providers)
Temporary increases in cross-border shipping costs
DHL has committed to ongoing discussions with Unifor and will provide updates as they work toward a resolution.
Stay Informed with Lojistic
Shipping disruptions like this are a reminder of how quickly things can change in logistics. Lojistic helps businesses stay in the know with insights and full visibility across carriers and modes—so you can respond quickly when conditions shift.
Want to monitor costs and performance across all your carriers in one place? Use Lojistic!
Author
Bryan Van Suchtelen
Bryan Van Suchtelen
Corporate Director of Rate Services
With more than 34 years of parcel experience, Bryan Van Suchtelen is the Corporate Director of Rate Services at Lojistic, one of the nation’s top logistics and transportation cost management companies.
Prior to joining Lojistic in 2015, Bryan enjoyed a 26-year career with UPS where his roles included Pricing, Field Sales and Director-level Sales Management of some of UPS’s largest customers.
At Lojistic, Bryan leverages his wealth of experience/expertise to identify and execute supply chain cost management solutions for parcel shippers of all sizes. Bryan has helped his customers reduce their shipping spend by tens of millions of dollars.