Defining the Risks

The Canada Post Corporation collects, processes, and delivers mail, serving more than 31 million Canadians. Among the 50 largest Canadian businesses, the company has commercial, operational, and financial links with over 200 postal administrations around the world.

With 4,200 corporate stores throughout Canada, the company’s National Retail Initiatives team is comprised of 65 postal inspectors responsible for protecting the assets and revenue stream in six geographic regions.

Developing Solutions

In 2003, the team was tasked with creating a standard methodology to quantify risk and provide corresponding security measures. The group developed an initial risk methodology, which received a positive rating following a formal best practices review.

After a year and a half of use, the team decided that it needed a way to standardize external crime rates surrounding their flagship stores. Team members turned to CAP Index, Inc., a premier provider of crime risk data. After initial discussions in 2005, Canada Post and CAP Index signed a five-year contract whereby CAP Index would provide its CRIMECAST® data for the company’s entire retail network, enhancing its existing risk methodology.

Results

With an expanding product mix and locations throughout Canada, Canada Post needed a risk management tool that could be implemented countrywide.

Using CAP Index data, the security team included external crime rates when evaluating each factor involved in risk management, including gross inventory level, inventory make-up, history of crime, and security hardware. The team then conducted a gap analysis, looking at what should be implemented versus current practices, then retrofitting security measures accordingly.