:Canada Post

{{further|Postage stamps and postal history of Canada}}

File:First Toronto Post Office-Royal Mail (26425168203).jpg signage at a Toronto post office built in 1833. The British Royal Mail administered the Province of Canada's postal system until 1851.]]

On August 3, 1527, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the first known letter was sent from present day Canada.Paul O'Neill (2003) The Oldest City, The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland (p. 116) {{ISBN|0-9730271-2-6}} While in St. John's, John Rut wrote a letter to King Henry VIII about his findings and planned voyage. Mail delivery within Canada first started in 1693 when the Portuguese-born Pedro da Silva was paid to deliver between Quebec City and Montreal. From 1711 to 1851, post offices in British North America were extensions of the British Post Office's Royal Mail.{{sfn|Adie|1990|p=22}}

In April 1851, control of postal services in the Province of Canada was transferred from the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom to the newly formed Postmaster General for the Province of Canada. Postal responsibilities in the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island were also transferred to their local governments that year.{{sfn|Adie|1990|p=36}} The first postage stamp (designed by Sandford Fleming) went into circulation in Canada that same year.

File:Royal Mail - Ottawa Electric Railway.jpg

It was in 1867 that the newly formed Dominion of Canada created the Post Office Department as a federal government department (The Act for the Regulation of the Postal Service) headed by a Cabinet minister, the Postmaster General of Canada. The Act took effect on April 1, 1868, providing a uniform postal service throughout the newly established dominion. The Canadian post office was designed around the British service as created by Sir Rowland Hill, who introduced the concept of charging mail by weight and not destination along with creating the concept of the postage stamp. The new service traded under the name The Royal Mail Canada. It joined the Universal Postal Union in 1878.

Several historical sites related to the history of the Post Office Department of Canada can be visited today. In Ontario, the first Toronto Post Office is still in operation. The site of Scotiabank Arena was once the Canada Post Delivery Building. Also notable are the Vancouver Main Post Office[https://web.archive.org/web/20120306014330/http://www.discovervancouver.com/GVB/vancouver-post-office.asp Vancouver Main Post Office] and the Dawson, Yukon, Post Office,[https://web.archive.org/web/20070208183933/http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/dawson/natcul/natcul3_e.asp Dawson, Yukon, Post Office] a National Historic Site of Canada. In Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, a nineteenth-century lighthouse acts as a seasonal post office for the tiny coastal community.[https://web.archive.org/web/20071010124112/http://www.peggys-cove.com/photos6.html Peggy's Cove lighthouse]

File:Royal Mail Canada, rural mail delivery cart, Ancaster-Hamilton (I0000746).tif

Prior to rural mail delivery, many Canadians living outside major cities and towns had little communication with the outside world. On October 10, 1908, the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada.{{cite web|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1908ae.shtml|title=Free Rural Mail Delivery|website=Canadian Museum of History|access-date=May 10, 2018}} The extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural Canadian residents was a major achievement for the Post Office Department.

The Post Office Department was an early pioneer of airmail delivery, with the first airmail flight taking place on June 24, 1918, carrying mail from Montreal to Toronto.{{cite web|url=http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html |title=Canada's First Air Mail Historical Plaque |access-date=2012-07-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212220/http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 }} By 1927, airmail service had expanded to Manitoba, and a regular airmail route between Rimouski, Quebec, Montreal, and Ottawa had been established. In 1937, the Post Office provided Trans-Canada Airlines with airmail contract. Daily airmail service between Vancouver and Montreal began in 1939.{{Cite web |title="The Postal System" article in the Canadian Encyclopedia online |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/postal-system |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322213205/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/postal-system |archive-date=2012-03-22 |access-date=2013-09-23}}

{{multiple image|totalwidth=330|align=left|direction=vertical|image1=Royal Mail.jpg|caption1=A functional mailbox from the 1900s, bearing the name Royal Mail Canada|image2=Canadian Post Office Letter Carrier Hat (14579239685).jpg|caption2=A Canada Post Office letter carrier hat, {{circa|1970s}}|footer=The postal service operated under the name Royal Mail Canada until the 1960s, when the brand was phased out.}}

The Post Office Savings Bank system, an agency created by the April 1868 Post Office Act, was phased out in 1968–69.{{cite web |title=Civilization.ca – A Chronology of Canadian Postal History |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1868be.shtml |website=Canadian Museum of History |access-date=17 June 2018}}

The 1970s was a difficult decade for the Post Office, with major strikes combined with annual deficits that had hit $600 million by 1981. This state of affairs made politicians want to rethink their strategy for the federal department. It resulted in two years of public debate and input into the future of mail delivery in Canada. The government sought to give the post office more autonomy, in order to make it more commercially viable and to compete against the new threat of private courier services.

On October 16, 1981, the Federal Parliament passed the "Canada Post Corporation Act", which transformed Canada Post into a Crown corporation to create the Canada Post Corporation (CPC). The legislation also included a measure legally guaranteeing basic postal service to all Canadians. It stipulates that all Canadians have the right to expect mail delivery, regardless of where they live.

In 1985, Canada Post began phasing in community mailboxes instead of door-to-door delivery in new subdivisions. This was met with legal challenges, requiring an Ontario court to rule that the Canada Post Act does not require door-to-door mail delivery.{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Canada Post hiking prices, ending door-to-door delivery in cities, urban areas |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/canada/Canada+Post+phase+home+delivery+urban+centres/9273560/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003515/http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/canada/Canada+Post+phase+home+delivery+urban+centres/9273560/story.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=July 12, 2015 |work=Calgary Herald}}

By 1989, Canada Post had resolved much of its financial troubles, reporting its first profit since 1957. It continued to operate at a consistent profit from 1995 to 2010.{{cite news |author=Barrie McKenna |date=April 17, 2013 |title=Canada Post swings to profit but red ink looms |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-swings-to-profit-but-red-ink-looms/article11327974/ |work=The Globe and Mail}}

In 1993, Canada Post purchased a majority stake in Purolator Courier.{{Cite web |title=Canadian post office to buy 75-percent stake in Purolator for $24 million – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/04/Canadian-post-office-to-buy-75-percent-stake-in-Purolator-for-24-million/1612739166400/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=UPI |language=en}} In 2000, it launched Epost, which allowed customers to receive bills from participating merchants and institutions online for free. Epost was discountinued at the end of 2022.

2006 and 2007 saw minor disruptions to rural mail service, with 5,000 out of 847,000 mailboxes temporarily cut off due to concerns with postal worker safety.{{Cite news |title=Canada Post rings twice on rural mail delivery safety |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/canada-post-rings-twice-on-rural-mail-delivery-safety-1.683082 |access-date=December 18, 2024 |work=CBC News}}

For 2007, 2008{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}, and 2009 the corporation was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine.{{cite web |date=March 13, 2008 |title=Reasons for Selection, 2007 Canada's Top 100 Employers |url=http://www.eluta.ca/einfo?en=Canada+Post+Corporation&ri=39212ce27c291e29d31a11b23f3549d8&rk=59c32f7316fb9856fa903ef5f5ec55ac |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729034719/http://www.eluta.ca/einfo?en=Canada+Post+Corporation&ri=39212ce27c291e29d31a11b23f3549d8&rk=59c32f7316fb9856fa903ef5f5ec55ac |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |access-date=2009-02-17 |publisher=Eluta.ca}}{{cite web |date=January 2, 2009 |title=Employer Review:Canada Post Corporation |url=http://www.eluta.ca/top-employer-canada-post |access-date=2009-02-17 |publisher=Eluta.ca}} In 2008, a strike by Canada Post's administrative worker union — the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) — caused minor issues in customer service.{{Cite news |date=November 17, 2008 |title=Few mail delays reported in strike by Canada Post support staff |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/few-mail-delays-reported-in-strike-by-canada-post-support-staff-1.696636 |access-date=December 18, 2024 |work=CBC News}}

In 2010, Canada Post began a seven-year modernization effort called Postal Transformation, investing in greater motorization and automation. As part of this initiative, the duties of letter carriers were combined with those of mail service couriers.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/oeRdjIwCs-M Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170526072458/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRdjIwCs-M Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web |title=Transforming our Business | date=May 26, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRdjIwCs-M |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}} This resulted complaints of undelivered mail, increased overtime, work stress, and injuries from fatigue and working past dark.{{Cite web |date=December 9, 2012 |title=Remember letters? Some aren't getting through |url=https://www.lfpress.com/2012/12/09/remember-letters-some-arent-getting-through/wcm/449b5bd4-3907-e9a1-b2cf-156f79f1b1da |website=The London Free Press}}

File:Chanting up a storm with Halifax Postal Workers locked out by Canada Post.ogv picketing outside a Canada Post sorting depot in Halifax, June 2011]]

In response, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went on its first strike against Canada Post since 1997.{{cite news |date=June 2, 2011 |title=FAQs: Handy facts about the postal dispute |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/faqs-handy-facts-about-the-postal-dispute-1.981936 |access-date=December 18, 2024 |work=CBC News}} The following week, Canada Post locked out CUPW members and the Harper government soon passed a back-to-work motion with binding arbitration.{{cite news |last1=Lu |first1=Vanessa |date=8 October 2015 |title=Canadian postal workers challenge 2011 back-to-work order |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/10/08/canadian-postal-workers-challenge-2011-back-to-work-order.html |newspaper=The Toronto Star}} This resulted in a new agreement in 2012 with major concessions from the union, including a $4 per hour drop in starting wages and the loss of bankable sick days.{{cite news |title=Postal workers union says sick leave reform didn't work for them |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/postal-workers-union-says-sick-leave-reform-didn-t-work-for-them-1.3053334 |work=CBC News}} Although CUPW successfully challenged the back-to-work legislation in court, the new agreement remained in force, since it was agreed to by the membership of CUPW.{{Cite web |title=Big CUPW Win in Court — 2011 Back-to-work Legislation Struck Down |url=https://www.cupw.ca/en/big-cupw-win-court-%E2%80%94-2011-back-work-legislation-struck-down |website=CUPW}}

Canada Post posted a pretax loss of $253 million in 2011, partly due to the 25-day employee lockout and a $150 million pay equity class action lawsuit. The period from 2012 to 2016 saw a return to financial sustainability for Canada Post, with a net profit of $266 million.

File:CanadaPostCommunityMailboxes10.jpg

In 2014, Canada Post attempted to phase out door-to-door service in urban centres in favour of community mailboxes, affecting an estimated 32% of Canadian addresses and cutting over 8,000 jobs.{{cite news |title=Canada Post to end community mailbox conversions as part of Liberal reforms |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-end-community-mailbox-conversions-1.4501291 |access-date=2018-01-24 |work=CBC News |language=en}}{{cite web |date=March 2015 |title=Canada Post's Five Point Action Plan: Our Progress to Date |url=https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/aboutus/5_en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816003346/https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/aboutus/5_en.pdf |archive-date=2015-08-16 |access-date=July 12, 2015 |publisher=Canada Post}} The move was widely unpopular, especially for its impacts on seniors and people with disabilities.{{cite web |last=Commisso |first=Christina |date=December 11, 2013 |title=Critics blast Canada Post's plan to phase out door-to-door delivery |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/critics-blast-canada-post-s-plan-to-phase-out-door-to-door-delivery-1.1584625 |access-date=May 1, 2014 |work=CTVNews.ca |publisher=Bell Media}}{{Cite web |title=Majority of Canadians oppose Canada Post service changes: survey {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/1038025/more-than-half-of-canadians-oppose-new-canada-post-service-changes-poll/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Global News |language=en-US}} President and CEO Deepak Chopra became a target of public criticism.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} In 2015, CUPW filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the roll-out be suspended.{{cite news |title=Canada Post halts controversial community mailbox program |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada-post-community-mailbox-1.3289647 |access-date=27 October 2015 |work=CBC News}}

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to stop the phaseout as part of his 2015 Canadian federal election campaign.{{cite news |title=Justin Trudeau lays out platform that would revamp electoral system |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/16/trudeau-would-end-first-past-the-post-electoral-system.html |access-date=27 October 2015 |work=Toronto Star}} Following his victory, Canada Post suspended its phaseout. Chopra announced his resignation in summer 2017, leaving three years ahead of his term's expiry date.{{Cite news |date=2017-08-14 |title=Canada Post head Deepak Chopra stepping down in spring of 2018 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-head-deepak-chopra-stepping-down-in-spring-of-2018/article35986208/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}} The Liberal government announced an official halt in January 2018. Canada Post did not reintroduce door-to-door delivery to areas affected before April 15, 2016.

File:CanadaPostTruck4.jpg goods.]]

In October 2018, CUPW launched rotating strikes across Canada to negotiate a new agreement with Canada Post.{{Cite web |title=Details Of Tentative Agreements |url=https://www.cupw.ca/en/details-tentative-agreements |website=CUPW}}{{cite news |title=Canada Post offer 'not good enough,' says union as strike continues in five provinces |url=https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/11/16/canada-post-offer-not-good-enough-says-union-as-strike-continues-in-five-provinces.html |access-date=2018-11-16 |newspaper=The Toronto Star |language=en}} The strikes lasted until late November, when postal workers were ordered back to work by the Trudeau government.{{cite news |last1=Sciarpelleti |first1=Laura |date=December 17, 2019 |title=Canada Post workers still without new contract 1 year after back-to-work bill passed |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-post-workers-still-without-contract-1-year-after-bill-c-89-1.5399085 |work=CBC}} This created a 30-day backlog, causing Canada Post to temporarily suspend Canada-bound mail{{cite news |title=Strike prompts Canada Post to ask foreign services to stop sending mail |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-post-strike-1.4909208 |access-date=2018-11-16 |work=CBC News |language=en-US}} and post $270 million in losses for 2018.{{Cite web |last=Post |first=Canada |title=Canada Post segment posts $270 million loss for 2018 |url=https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/our-company/news-and-media/corporate-news/news-release/2019-04-18-canada-post-segment-posts-270-million-loss-for-2018 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.canadapost-postescanada.ca |language=en}}

Canada Post struggled to adapt to the growth of e-commerce parcel delivery throughout the 2010s and 2020s, losing more than $3 billion between 2018 and 2024 and racking up over $1 billion in debts. Between 2006 and 2023, its letter deliveries declined from 5.5 billion to 2 billion annually, while parcel revenue rose from $1.6 billion in 2015 to $3.4 billion in 2023. Conversely, its market share in parcel delivery dropped sharply, from 62% in 2019 to 23% in 2023.{{Cite news |last=Subramanian |first=Vanmala |date=2024-11-22 |title=Canada Post strike shines light on service's struggle to survive amid fierce competition and financial losses |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canada-post-strike-financial-losses/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}

File:Canada Post strike, November 2024 (II).jpg

Labour relations and costs were persistent challenges throughout this period. In 2023, Canada Post incurred $4.9 billion in labour costs and employee benefits against $6.9 billion in revenue, with parcel delivery costs of $50 to $60 per hour, exceeding industry averages of $40 to $50. In November 2024, a 32-day strike halted operations across Canada.

Canada Post's 2023 annual report indicated it may run out of funds by the end of 2025. Unlike many Crown corporations, Canada Post must sustain itself entirely on its own revenues.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=2023 Annual Report |url=https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/our-company/financial-and-sustainability-reports/2023-annual-report/our-financial-picture.page |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Canada Post |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Major |first=Darren |date=May 29, 2024 |title=Getting rid of daily mail delivery is not on the table, Canada Post CEO says |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-post-daily-mail-delivery-1.7218955 |access-date=December 18, 2024 |work=CBC News}}

File:CanadaPostMailbox8.jpg

Any letter sent within Canada has the destination address on the centre of its envelope, with a stamp, postal indicia, meter label, or frank mark on the top-right corner of the envelope to acknowledge payment of postage. A return address, although it is not required, can be put on the top-left corner or the back of the envelope in smaller type than the destination address.

Official addressing protocol is for the address to be in block letters, using a fixed-pitch typeface (such as Courier). The first line(s) of the address contain(s) the personal name and internal address of the recipient. The second-to-last line is the post office box, general delivery indicator, or street address, using the shortened name of the street type and no punctuation. The last line consists of the legal place name, a single space, the two-letter province abbreviation, two full spaces, and then the postal code. The country designation is unnecessary if mailed within Canada.

Fictitious examples:

File:800 Rene-Levesque Ouest - 02.jpg

The Corporation has a directory of all its products and services called the Postal Guide and has divided its range of services into three main categories: Transaction Mail, Parcels and Direct Marketing.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111211004022/http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/personal_default-e.asp Postal Guide]

File:Canvas bags.jpg.]]

The lettermail service allows the transmission of virtually any paper document. The 2015 to 2018 rate was 85 cents for a standard letter (30 g or less) and $1.20 for a letter between 30 g and 50 g. Proposed change for 2019 is 90 cents and $1.27 for these rates. Rates usually increase in mid-January of each year; for ordinary letters (30 g or less).{{Cite canlaw|link=http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/regusor-88-430/latest/sor-88-430.html#SCHEDULE__23737|linkloc=CanLII|type=reg|regtitle=Letter Mail Regulations|regnumber=SOR/88-430}}. Schedule ("Rates of Postage — Letter Mail") to section 3.{{Update after|2015|12|01||reason=rates seem to increase every year; check table at bottom of Letter Mail Regulations for the new 2015 rate.}} The rate was regulated by a price-cap formula, linked to the inflation rate.Under the price-cap formula approved by the federal government in 2000, basic letter rate increases, when warranted, will not exceed 66.67% of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index from May prior to the last increase to May of the current year. Increases will be implemented no more than once a year, in January, and announced no later than July 1 in the year before the increase goes into effect in the Canada Gazette Part I. The Corporation now has a "permanent" stamp that is valued at the domestic rate forever, eliminating the need to buy 1 cent stamps after a rate increase. The rates for lettermail are based on weight and size and determine whether the article falls into the aforementioned standard format or in the oversize one.

The Canada Post website documents standards for delivery within Canada:

• Lettermail[https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGletterml-e.asp Lettermail]
• Priority Delivery Standards[http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGservstds-e.asp#1910138 Priority™ Delivery Standards Grid (see Table 12)]

Daily cross-country airmail services were introduced in 1939. Canadian municipal delivery service standards are two days, as seen on the Lettermail Delivery Standards Grid.

Mail sent internationally is known as letter-post. It can only contain paper documents (See "Small Packet" below). From 2015 to 2018, the rate for a standard letter is $1.20 if sent to the United States and $2.50 if sent to any other destination.{{cite web|url=http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/business/productsservices/letterpost.jsf|title=Postes Canada – Poste aux lettres à destination des États-Unis et du régime international|access-date=2014-01-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521232244/https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/business/productsservices/letterpost.jsf|archive-date=2013-05-21}}

File:Canada Post bread rack.jpg

File:Canada Post Tag036.jpg

Canada Post offers four domestic parcel services. The rates are based on distance, weight, and size. The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg.

• Air and surface services are available.
• Maximum weight is 1 kg (USA) and 2 kg (International).
• No on time guarantee
• No ability to make a trace or investigation if it is lost or delayed

• Available for items sent to the United States only.
• Despite its name, does not provide any service guarantee.
• The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg
• It is cheaper than the standard international rate.
• Handed off to the USPS as Priority Mail.

• Provides speedy and guaranteed delivery to addresses in the United States.
• Provides accelerated delivery to certain countries.
• Maximum weight is 30 kg (USA) and 20 to 30 kg (depending on the international destination).
• Handed off to the USPS / other postal administrations as Priority Mail Express / EMS.

• Air and surface service available
• Provides delivery to countries to which Xpresspost is not available
• No on time guarantee

File:Canada Post ad mail rack.jpg

• Promotional mailings targeted to specific residents.
• Minimum quantity of 1,000 articles.

• Consists of printed matter and product samples that are not addressed to specific delivery addresses in Canada, but to specific neighbourhoods or cities.

On September 22, 2014, Canada Post unveiled Snap Admail, an all-in-one online tool that is aimed to support small businesses in the creation and execution of direct-marketing campaigns.{{cite press release|url=https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2014/2014_snap_admail.jsf|title=Canada Post unveils new all-in-one online direct marketing solution for small business|date=Sep 22, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111234548/https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2014/2014_snap_admail.jsf|archive-date=2014-11-11}}

File:RichmondHillDriveThruParcelCentre.jpg

Canada Post operates a store front that sells a variety of stamps, and postal supplies to the public. The personal shop is focused on nominal postage, shipping supplies, and prepaid envelopes while the collectors shop has a selection of limited edition definitive and commemorative stamps as well as coins.

File:Canada Post Van 5469NH Leonard Cohen Vehicle 53889. 01.jpg is the subject, 2019.]]

Although Canada Post is responsible for stamp design and production, the corporation does not actually choose the subjects or the final designs that appear on stamps. That task falls under the jurisdiction of the Stamp Advisory Committee. Their objective is to recommend a stamp program that will have broad-based appeal, regionally and culturally, reflecting Canadian history, heritage, and tradition.Canada's Stamp Details, pp.16–17, January to March 2005, Volume XIV, No. 1

Before Canada Post calls a meeting of the committee, it also welcomes suggestions for stamp subjects from Canadian citizens. Ideas for subjects that have recently appeared on a stamp are declined. The committee works two years in advance and can approve approximately 20 subjects for each year.

Once a stamp subject is selected, Canada Post's Stamp Products group conducts research. Designs are commissioned from two firms, both chosen for their expertise. The designs are presented anonymously to the committee. The committee's process and selection policy have changed little in the thirty years since it was introduced.

File:Stamp 1971 CAN MiNr0494AxDF pm B002.jpg]]

Notable stamps include Canadian definitive postage stamps like the Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamps, the Canada Post millennium stamps, and an assortment of ice hockey and Olympic stamps.

{{Further|S10 (UPU standard)}}

Canada Post use 13 digit alphanumeric tracking numbers / barcodes for their pre-printed labels. Bar codes consist of two letters, followed by eight sequence digits, and a ninth digit which is the check digit. The first two letters are the type of service (RN for registered mail, PG for express post envelopes). The last two characters are the letters CA. The check digit ignores the letters and only concern itself with the first 8 numeric digits. The scheme is to multiply each of those 8 digits by a different weighting factor, (8 6 4 2 3 5 9 7). Add up the total of all of these multiplications and divide by 11. The remainder after dividing by 11 gives a number from 0 to 10. Subtracting this from 11 gives a number from 1 to 11. That result is the check digit, except in the two cases where it is 10 or 11. If 10 it is then changed to a 0, and if 11 then it is changed to a 5. The check digit may be used to verify if a barcode scan is correct, or if a manual entry of the barcode is correct. The system of barcode digit checking is referred to as Modulo 11 or Modulus 11 digit calculation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/business/3523_en.pdf|title=Registered Mail Envelope Envelope Layout Guide|website=canadapost.ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116065743/https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/business/3523_en.pdf|archive-date=2014-11-16|url-status=dead}}

Canada Post use 16 digit numeric tracking numbers / barcodes for parcels that originate from a Canada Post post office. The first 7 digits are the reference numbers for the specific post office that the package originated. A Modulus 10 digit calculation is used to verify that the barcode has been read correctly, also referred to as the Luhn algorithm. USPS and Canada Post both use the same system to verify the barcodes, with a difference that USPS uses a 20 digit numeric tracking number. These types of barcodes are referred to as GS1-128.{{Cite web|url=http://www.axicon.com/checkdigitcalculator.html|title=Check Digit Calculator{{!}} Check your Barcode|website=www.axicon.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-09-14}}

File:Canada Post HQ Ottawa.jpg

Unlike some Crown corporations, Canada Post is solely sustained through its profits. Many of its business practices require federal approval, including its corporate plan and postage fees.

In 1981, Canada Post became a Crown Corporation with a President and CEO.

The Office of the Ombudsman at Canada Post was created in October 1997 as a result of the 1995 Canada Post Mandate Review conducted by an Advisory Panel appointed by the Canadian government.{{Cite web |title=Canada Post ombudsman |url=https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/ombudsman/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |language=en-CA}}{{Cite web |date=2009-05-26 |title=Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review |url=http://www.cpcstrategicreview-examenstrategiquescp.gc.ca/cnslttn-eng.html#cd |access-date=2024-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526013920/http://www.cpcstrategicreview-examenstrategiquescp.gc.ca/cnslttn-eng.html#cd |archive-date=May 26, 2009 }}

The Ombudsman is the final appeal authority in resolving postal service complaints. If a complaint is not resolved to the customer's satisfaction by Canada Post, the customer can appeal to the Ombudsman. Although the Ombudsman has no legislative power over the Corporation, the recommendations that the office makes to Canada Post can help improve company processes, amend policies and reinforce compliance with procedures.

The Ombudsman is independent of Canada Post staff and management, reporting directly to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mrs. Francine Conn was appointed on July 11, 2011, as the fourth and current Ombudsman at Canada Post.[http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/ombudsman/aboutus.jsf Mrs. Francine Conn] The services offered by the Office of the Ombudsman are free of charge.

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Canada Post has a history of troubled labour relations with its trade unions, particularly the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Letter Carriers Union of Canada (which merged with CUPW in 1989), culminating in periodic strike action that has halted mail service in Canada on different occasions. There were at least 19 strikes, lockouts, and walkouts between 1965 and 1997,{{cite web|url=http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/23/keith-beardsley-post-office-pays-the-price-for-mps-summer-vacation/|title=Keith Beardsley: Post Office pays the price for MPs' summer vacation|date=June 23, 2011|access-date=2014-04-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140405141325/http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/23/keith-beardsley-post-office-pays-the-price-for-mps-summer-vacation/|archive-date=April 5, 2014}} including several wildcat strikes. A number of these strikes after the 1970s were countered with strikebreakers and back-to-work legislation from the Canadian parliament.

Nearly all Canada Post employees who are not in the CUPW belong to one of three smaller trade unions. The Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association covers 12,000 rural workers, the Association of Postal Officials of Canada has 3,400 supervisors and the Union of Postal Communications Employees represents 2,600 technical workers.{{cite web|url=http://www.cpaa-acmpa.ca/about_us_en.html|title=About us|publisher=CPAA|access-date=2010-09-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130050256/http://www.cpaa-acmpa.ca/about_us_en.html|archive-date=2010-11-30}}{{cite web|url=http://www.apoc-aopc.com/en_profil.asp|title=About APOC|publisher=Association of Postal Officials of Canada|access-date=2010-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311230619/http://www.apoc-aopc.com/en_profil.asp|archive-date=2011-03-11|url-status=dead}}

In 2004, rural route contractors became employees of Canada Post and joined the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

File:Festive Postman (4197714154).jpg

Canada Post receives millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus each year. In 1974, three Canada Post employees started to respond to mail addressed to Santa in Montreal, Quebec. In 1982, Canada Post rolled out the initiative across Canada and pledged that every letter sent in would receive a reply. A stamp is not required when sending a letter to Santa Claus from Canada and there is a special dedicated postal code, H0H 0H0. About 15,000 current and retired employees respond in many languages to each letter received on behalf of Santa. Over the past 27 years, more than 15 million letters were written by volunteers. Canada Post also receives letters to God and, on occasion, the Easter Bunny.

In 2001, Canada Post started accepting e-mail messages to Santa. In 2006, more than 44,000 email messages were responded to.{{cite web|url= https://www.straight.com/article-119312/santas-making-a-blog-and-checking-it-twice|title= Santa's making a blog and checking it twice|author= Blaine Kyllo|date= November 22, 2007|publisher= straight.com}}

The 2024 strike caused Canada Post to remove its deadline for sending letters to Santa when its letters to Santa program was disrupted.{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Noah |title=Calgary-based Santa emailing website sees renewed interest amid postal strike, founder says |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/calgary-santa-emailing-website-sees-renewed-interest-amid-postal-strike-founder-says |website=Calgary Herald |publisher=Post Media |access-date=6 December 2024}} Parents were forced to find alternative ways to send their children's wishes. Across the country, libraries, businesses and firefighters, amongst others, stepped in to help.{{cite web |last1=Dangerfield |first1=Katie |title=Will Santa get your letter this year? Alternatives amid Canada Post strike |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10890705/santa-letters-canada-post-strike-alternatives/ |website=GlobalNews.ca |publisher=Global News}} The emailSanta.com website, which was created in the wake of the 1997 Canada Post strike as alternative way to send letters to Santa then, saw an increase by over 250 per cent in letters to Santa.{{cite web |last1=Djan |first1=Edward |title=Calgarians finding alternative ways to send their letters to Santa Claus |url=https://calgary.citynews.ca/video/2024/12/11/calgarians-finding-alternative-ways-to-send-their-letters-to-santa-claus/ |website=Calgary CityNews |publisher=Rogers Media |access-date=December 11, 2024}}

• List of postal entities
• Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal
• Caribbean Postal Union
• Royal Philatelic Society of Canada

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Adie|first=Douglas K.|title=The Mail Monopoly: Analysing Canadian Postal Service|year=1990|publisher=Fraser Institute|isbn=9780889751323}}
• Arnell, Jack C., and Kenneth S. Mackenzie. Atlantic Mails: A History of the Mail Service Between Great Britain and Canada to 1889 (National Postal Museum, 1980).
• Bickerton, Geoff. "Postal deregulation and its impact on postal workers: a Canadian union perspective." in Liberalization of the Postal and Delivery Sector (Edward Elgar, 2006) pp. 203–216.
• Campbell, Robert M. "Symbolic regulation: the case of third-party regulation of Canada Post." Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques (1993): 325–339.
• Currie, A. W. "The Post Office Since 1867." Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique 24.2 (1958): 241–250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/138771
• Geloso, Vincent, and Michael Makovi. "State capacity and the post office: Evidence from nineteenth century Quebec." Journal of Government and Economics 5 (2022): 100035. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667319322000076 online]
• Osborne, Brian, and Robert Pike. "Lowering the Walls of Oblivion”: The Revolution in Postal Communications in Central Canada, 1851–1911." Canadian Papers in Rural History 4 (1984): 200–225.
• Sidak, J. Gregory, and Daniel F. Spulber. "Monopoly and the mandate of Canada post." Yale Journal on Regulation 14 (1997): 1+. [https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/7944/05_14YaleJonReg1_1997_.pdf?sequence=2 online]
• Smith, William. History of the Post Office in British North America, 1639–1870 (Cambridge UP, 1920). [https://archive.org/details/thehistoryofthep37238gut online]

• {{cite book

| title = Main Street Memories

| first = Ken | last = Smith

| year = 2006

| publisher = Community Books

| place = Lockport, NS

}}

{{commons category|Canada Post}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813000440/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/philately-postal/index-e.html |date=August 13, 2006 |title=Philately and Postal History – Library and Archives Canada}}

{{Postal administrations of North America}}

{{Americas topic|Post of}}

{{Crown corporations of Canada}}

{{Canadian stamps}}

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Category:Canadian federal Crown corporations

Category:Companies based in Ottawa

Category:Federal departments and agencies of Canada

Category:Philately of Canada

Category:Postal organizations

Category:Transport companies established in 1867

Category:1867 establishments in Canada

Category:Uniformed services of Canada