By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -FedEx on Tuesday said it will merge its contractor-based Ground delivery operations in Canada into its company-operated Express unit and convert contractors into employees.

The move, set to phase in starting in April 2024, comes as the global delivery company is revamping operations to boost profits and better compete with rivals like United Parcel Service , Amazon.com and regional delivery firms.

FedEx made a similar change in the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii last year.

Still, the company said there will be U.S. markets where packages shift from Express to Ground, its outsourced delivery arm.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx in April said it planned to combine the two delivery units as part of its wider effort to slash $4 billion in permanent costs by the end of its 2025 financial year. That announcement came almost a year after activist investor D.E. Shaw pushed for change and won two additional board seats.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Porter and Leslie Adler)