Price hikes go into effect on Monday.

The Canada Post price hikes taking effect next week might do the crown corporation more harm than good, a small business advocate says.

Stamp prices increase from $0.63 to $0.85 on Monday, a raise aimed at helping to make up for the decline in demand for mail delivery. The 22-cent jump (a 12-cent increase to $0.75 for businesses using metered postage) might push more businesses online and away from traditional mail, says Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“Price hikes are actually going to cause further erosion in the usage of Canada Post amongst clients,” Kelly says. “Rather than shoring up its finances, I suspect that it’s going to end up weakening them because customers are going to be motivated to move away from postal services.”

Canada Post estimates the price increases will mean less than $55 per year in additional costs for small businesses.

But Kelly, who says many small businesses send a minimum of 50 pieces of mail per month, is skeptical of the estimate, calling the increase “alarming.”

“A lot of invoicing and receipts of payment actually still happens through the mail,” he says, “and a number of small businesses reach out to their customers through the mail as well.”

Read more: Canada Post increases will drive small business away from mail, advocate says | Toronto Star.