Canada Post workers in Edmonton were walking picket lines Friday after the start of a nationwide strike. With mailboxes expected to remain empty and Canada Post's red and blue postal vans sitting idle, Edmontonians who rely on the postal service are being told to brace for delays.

OTTAWA—Canada’s unionized postal workers walked off the job, halting handling of almost all mail and parcels and threatening lengthy delivery delays heading into the busy holiday season. The strike by tens of thousands of Canadian Union of Postal Workers members began early Friday after a year of contentious bargaining failed to yield a collective contract agreement for mail carriers.