Updated Sept. 26, 2025
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has announced a national strike, effective immediately. This labour disruption will affect Canada Post services.
Athabasca University is working to minimize the disruption in services to our students and university community.
To ensure critical services remain available for students, alternate processes are being implemented. We are closely monitoring the situation as it evolves and will provide updates as needed.
Please scroll down for specific information about the following:
- Course materials
- Science lab kits
- Library materials
- Transcripts
- Student financial aid
- Student questions
Course materials
AU will begin shipping course materials to students via courier instead of Canada Post.
Students will not be required to sign for packages. If students have a PO box on file as their address, we will reach out for an alternative street address for delivery.
If you have an Oct. 1, 2025, start date and have not yet received your course materials, please check your email for a tracking number and check the status of your package. If your package appears to be in transit or you have not received a tracking number, please contact us at cmat@athabascau.ca.
Science lab kits
The science lab will ship lab kits to students via courier.
Library materials
Requests for physical items via interlibrary loan will be paused. Requests for required course materials from the library collection will be processed and sent by courier.
Users with loaned materials are asked to hold returning materials until the Canada Post disruption is over.
Transcripts
Most incoming transcripts are received via MyCreds or other similar digital service. For those not using these services, we can temporarily accept digital copies via email directly from institutions as an exception.
Student financial aid
Forms that are normally mailed to government funding agencies will be sent via courier where necessary. Note that Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) packages are already normally couriered and will continue to be sent this way.
Student questions
If students have any questions, the AU Information Centre team is here to help. They can be reached at 1-780-675-6100 (international) or 1-800-788-9041 (toll-free in Canada/United States), Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Mountain).