Canada Post has announced a suspension of deliveries on Monday for parts of British Columbia due to risks posed by persistent wildfire smoke.
The affected regions include:
- Metro Vancouver area,
- Southern Vancouver Island (Duncan, Sidney and Victoria),
- North Vancouver Island (Campbell River and Powell River),
- West Vancouver Island (Courtenay, Nanaimo, Port Alberni),
- Okanagan Valley and Similkameen regions (Kelowna and Penticton),
- Kootenay regions (Cranbrook, Castlegar, Nelson and Trail)
- Thompson, Nicola and Fraser regions (Vernon and Kamloops)
The announcement was made at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, after the Crown corporation expressed that wildfire smoke has made conditions unsafe for delivery agents.
Due to poor air quality in central and southern #BritishColumbia caused by smoke from forest fires in the western United States, we are suspending delivery for the day and not sending our delivery agents out as conditions have made it unsafe. (1/4)
— Canada Post Helps (@canadaposthelps) September 14, 2020
As of 2 p.m. PST, Vancouver had the worst air quality rating in the world, surpassing cities in the United States that have ongoing wildfires and infamously polluted cities like Delhi, India.
The Greater Victoria area has also consistently been rated 10+ or “very high risk” on the Air Quality Health Index since Friday.
These conditions are expected to persist until precipitation events occur later this week.
