A last-minute amendment to federal budget legislation has safeguarded key mailing protections for Canadians who are blind or print disabled and libraries—an important victory for teachers and students.
Earlier versions of Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, 2025, had threatened to remove the library book rate, which guarantees reduced postage rates for library materials, including interlibrary loans. The act also included a clause to repeal the free literature for the blind service in the Canada Post Corporations Act.
Librarians warned that eliminating protections related to library shipping rates would impede Canadians’ ability to access vital materials. Assurances from Canada Post that removing the legislated requirement would not endanger the program were met with skepticism. When it comes to education, such a change could have made sharing teaching resources and specialized materials across the province prohibitively expensive and created unequal access for teachers.
ATA librarian Sandra Anderson spoke on the importance of protecting the library book rate.
“This rate allows libraries across the country to maintain an interlibrary loan system. Some small rural libraries don’t have collections of their own. Everything on their shelves is borrowed from another larger library,” said Anderson. “So, losing this rate would effectively close many libraries in smaller communities, which would be devastating.”
“This change would have saved Canada Post 1 per cent of its budget but removed access for teachers and other library users across the country,” she added. “Without it, classrooms outside of urban communities could lose access to learning materials from the ATA and other libraries that support teaching and student learning.”
On February 23, the House of Commons Finance Committee adopted an amendment to Bill C-15 requiring Canada Post to provide both free mailing for materials for people who are blind and reduced postage for library materials.
“This is a huge victory,” Anderson said. “We were working to keep the legislative requirement for the program. It was fantastic to learn that when MPs realized the effect on libraries, not only did they remove the proposed change, but they also strengthened the existing legislation to add more protection for libraries in the Canada Post Act.”
The amendment represents the culmination of coordinated advocacy. Wanting to ensure equitable access to library materials, the Alberta Teachers’ Association joined libraries, accessibility organizations and education networks to push back against the proposed cuts. National groups including the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the National Network for Equitable Library Service and the Centre for Equitable Library Access alongside accessibility partners such as the CNIB lent their voices to the effort.
“A tiny line in a big budget bill was going to have a huge real-world impact,” Anderson said. “This amendment proves that engagement and advocacy work in politics. It has been rewarding to see that politicians understand how essential libraries are in promoting equitable access to knowledge.”
Bill C-15 will now return to the House of Commons for the report stage and third reading. Further debate and amendments are possible; however, stakeholders do not anticipate changes that would affect these critical protections for teachers, students and communities.
