Workers at Canada's national postal service have officially walked off the job across the country, including in Manitoba, where the provincial government says it's working to find ways to help essential mail get delivered.

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.