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Postal Clerk

Non-Commissioned Member | Full Time

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Overview Training Entry plans
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    • Overview

    As a member of the military, Postal Clerks provide a full range of postal services to Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families at CAF bases and establishments.

    The primary responsibilities of the Postal Clerk are to:

    • Perform all mail handling duties related to the receipt, dispatch and delivery of mail
    • Operate a postal tracing service
    • Maintain the security of mail and of post office premises as well as the security of cash, postal valuables and sensitive equipment
    • Prepare and distribute bills of lading for international and domestic mail dispatched by road, rail, sea and air
    • Operate a postal financial counter in accordance with Canada Post regulations and directives
    • Conduct financial accounting and audit duties at military post offices
    • Type routine correspondence, forms and documents
    • Operate office equipment including calculators, photocopiers, computers and postage meters

    Work environment

    Postal Clerks serve with Royal Canadian Navy, the Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force in Canada and abroad. They typically work in a postal office, but may also be on a ship at sea, in a temporary postal office in an operational unit, or a mobile postal van.

    If you chose a career in the Regular Force, upon completion of all required training, you will be assigned to your first base. While there is some flexibility with regards to postings (relocations), accommodations can’t always be made, and therefore, you can likely expect to move at some point in your career. However, if you decide to join the Primary Reserve Force, you will do so through a specific Reserve unit. Outside of training, your chosen Reserve unit will be your workplace on a part time basis, and you will not be obligated to relocate to a different base. As part of the Primary Reserve Force, you typically work one night per week and some weekends as a minimum with possibilities of full-time employment.

    Career Overview

    Transcript

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: I’m Private Vicky Laplante-Beaulieu, from Burnaby, B.C. I’m a Postal Clerk with the Canadian Armed Forces Postal Unit, posted at CFB Trenton.

    Sending and receiving mail for 100,000 personnel in a timely manner is a critical job. That’s why Postal Clerks have an integral role in the Canadian Armed Forces. They go where the Forces go — and they send mail to virtually every continent, often to locations where getting the mail to the right place, on time, is a difficult task.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: We’d receive the mail every morning around 7:30. And then from there we would X-ray it to make sure there’s no illegal contraband, no aerosols, or anything that would otherwise be dangerous goods. And from there we sort it to each mission, making sure that they go to the correct one. And then from there we just bag them up and send them off to Transport so they can get that sent out on service flights or commercial carriers.

    Postal Clerks ensure families stay connected overseas and that every letter or parcel gets to its destination — be it the middle of the ocean, the desert, or the Arctic — anywhere Canadian Armed Forces personnel happen to be.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: Right now, we have 25 active missions, but they change every day. We can get more in the next month even, so there’s a lot of missions and a lot of mail. Besides the obvious operations section where we send it overseas, we have members who work in the retail post office. So that’s the one where people are more familiar with, with the customer service, the counter, where you can buy stamps and send your parcels. So that is more what “inside Canada” does; overseas members also do the same type of roles but of course, they’re dealing with international mail and parcels. It may seem old-fashioned, because you think postal clerks, you think old-school mail, but you know what — it’s always evolving. You get to see new things every day.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: We take care of the morale. So our job is to make sure that our members overseas get their mail, they receive all the hand-written drawings from their kids, letters from their wife, and just — it makes them happy, and so I feel like our main job is the morale of the troops. My favourite part of the job is definitely the people — both the customers and the people that I work with. They’re different, unique people every single day. So you can’t go wrong. There are just so many different stories that you get, so it just makes for an interesting day. 

    After completing their training requirements, Postal Clerks are posted to a military post office across Canada, the Canadian Forces Postal Unit in Trenton, or on the coast in a Fleet Mail Office.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: You get to work for usually about a year in that type of scenario, and then you come back to Trenton and then you get to complete your financial training.  

    And from there, you’re able to handle the cash, and all the stamps… You’re always a soldier first. So regardless of the training you get as a Postal Clerk, when the time comes, if you need to put on your tack vest and get your weapon, you are good-to-go, you’re ready.

    Later in their careers, Postal Clerks also work in Central Registries. That's where they control and distribute official correspondence, both classified and unclassified, as well as process message traffic and official files.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: There’s lots of possibilities. You can become the Central Detachment Warrant, you can move up to the unit Sergeant Major, you can even go all the way up to the Chief.

    And, Postal Clerks can be also deployed overseas to support current military operations.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: Having a positive attitude and willing to learn new things is going to get you far, not just this trade, but in the military in general.

    PRIVATE VICKY LAPLANTE-BEAULIEU: This is so different, but so, so rewarding. There are so many benefits to being part of this community that you can’t go wrong. It’s a career you can be proud about, something you can do for the rest of your life. You get a great pension, benefits… It’s everything I could have asked for — I wish I had joined earlier.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Related Civilian Occupations

    • Mail Clerk
    • Mail Sorter

    Training

    The first stage of training is the Basic Military Qualification course, or Basic Training, held at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. This training provides the basic core skills and knowledge common to all trades. A goal of this course is to ensure that all recruits maintain the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) physical fitness standard; as a result, the training is physically demanding.

    Learn more about Basic Training here.

    Postal Clerks complete six weeks of training related to postal services in the military setting in Trenton, Ontario. Topics include:

    • Receipt, handling, sorting, redirecting, delivering and dispatching of all classes of mail
    • Safeguarding mail, recognizing and reporting mail irregularities
    • Interpretation of postal Law and Regulations

    Postal Clerks may be offered the opportunity to develop specialized skills through formal courses and on-the-job training, including:

    • Financial Accounting and Audit
    • Instructional Techniques

    As they progress in their career, Postal Clerks who demonstrate the required ability and potential will be offered advanced training. Available courses include:

    • Personnel Management
    • Postal Administration

    Entry plans

    No previous work experience or career related skills are required. CAF recruiters can help you decide if your personal interests and attributes match the criteria for this occupation.

    The minimum required education to apply for this occupation is the completion of the provincial requirements for Grade 10 or Secondary 4 in Quebec.

    Foreign education may be accepted.