Canada Post is cutting hours at the Oil Springs post office.

In a letter to Oil Springs Council, Canada Post local area manager, Tad Wolanski, says Canada Post conducted a review of customer traffic patterns in the village’s post office and “determined that we have a very small number of local customers on Saturdays and weekdays between the hours of 8 am and 9 am and 4:30 pm to 5 pm Monday to Friday.

“As a result of this review, we will no longer offer Saturday retail service as of Oct. 28.”

The new hours at the office will be 9 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4:30 pm except for Thursday where the post office will open at 10 am until 12pm and from 1pm to 6 pm.

Wolanski says there will be no change in the types of services offered.

“I guess they weren’t making any money on a Saturday,” says Mayor Ian Veen.

Councilor Kathy Gatsby the changes will create a problem for some people who aren’t able get to the post office. Canada Post has limited after hours keys for residents to use. “I don’t know if they still do limit them,” she says

Councilor Larry Wagner says he waited for an after-hours key for four years.

“If they’re going to close at 4:30 pm, we will have to have more keys.”

Meantime, Canada Post says it has no plans to close the office. “I want to reassure you that we remain committed to providing postal services in urban and rural communities across the country,” writes Wolanski. “Changes are necessary as part of our response to the decline of letter mail volumes and being able to offer affordable services to all Canadians.”