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| 1868 |
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New legislation, An Act for the Regulation of
the Postal Service, (SC31 Vic. [1867], c.10), effective 1 April,
provides for a uniform postal system throughout the new Dominion.
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On 1 April, the Post Office Savings Bank
system is put into operation.
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| 1870 |
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On July 15, Manitoba becomes the fifth province of the Dominion
and postal service is extended to Fort Garry, Manitoba, from Windsor,
Ontario, through the United States, by way of Detroit, Michigan, Chicago,
Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota, and north to Manitoba via Pembina, North
Dakota.
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During the siege of Paris, balloons are
used to transport the mail out of the city and to prevent being cut off
from the outside world.
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| 1871 |
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Prestamped, pictureless postcards are issued in Canada on 1
June. Cards are made available at a cost of one cent, which covers both
the costs of the card and delivery to any address within the Dominion.
These post cards cannot be posted twice. They can be registered with an
ordinary two-cent postage stamp. In 1950, prestamped post cards are no
longer sold at face value; a small premium is added to the face value of
the postage to cover the production cost.
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British Columbia joins Canada and arrangements are made with the
Post Office of the United States whereby mail to and from British Columbia
is passed in closed bags through the United States mails between Windsor,
Ontario, and Victoria, British Columbia, via San Francisco. Mail between
San Francisco and Victoria, British Columbia, is initially carried
fortnightly by steamship.
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A triweekly mail service is established by mail stage between
Fort Garry, Manitoba, and Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with
the mail stages running to the railway terminus at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mail arrives in Ottawa from Fort Garry in about ten days.
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| 1872 |
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The Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago releases the
first big U.S. mail-order catalogue.
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An arrangement between Canada and Newfoundland, effective 1
November, sets a uniform prepaid rate of six cents per one-half ounce (14
grams) on letters, instead of 12 ½ cents as before, and, providing
that newspapers, books, printed matter, and postcards sent between Canada
and Newfoundland are prepaid the ordinary Canada rate, they will be
delivered to destinations in Newfoundland and Canada without further
charge.
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Nova Scotia is connected to Canada by railway, thus providing
continuous railway mail communication from Halifax to Ontario.
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| 1873 |
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Beginning 1 July, the money order system is extended to Fort
Garry, Manitoba.
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Prince Edward Island joins Confederation on 1 July.
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| 1874 |
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Free letter carrier delivery service is introduced to
Montréal on 1 October. In 1875, approval is granted to extend the
service to Québec, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kingston, Saint John, Toronto,
and Halifax.
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Stamp vendors outside of the Post Office system are permitted to
sell postage stamps on a commission basis.
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“Return to sender” service becomes automatic for all
undelivered mail when a return address is available.
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In October, a treaty for the formation of a General Postal Union (GPU) is
signed in Bern, Switzerland. Known as the First Bern Postal Convention, it
calls for the adoption of uniform postage rates and regulations for
international correspondence. Canada is not a member of the GPU when the
agreement is ratified. With the permission of the British government,
however, the government of Canada directs the Postmaster General to take
measures leading to the admission of Canada to the GPU, which occurs in
1878. The GPU is renamed the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1879.
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Red is adopted as the standard colour for mailboxes in the
British Empire. The colour is known as “pillar box red” or
“royal red.”
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Home
mail delivery begins in 1874 in Montréal.
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| 1875 |
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In Canada, new general postal regulations are introduced on 1
October. The first post bands or newspaper wrappers are introduced bearing
a one cent impressed postage stamp. The “drop letter” rate
becomes one cent per one-half ounce (14 grams) prepaid by postage stamp
affixed to such letters when posted. Prepaid postage is mandated and
unpaid letters are sent to the “dead letter” office. Double
deficiency postage is introduced whereby short-paid mail is charged double
the deficient amount and paid by the addressee.
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Registration stamps are introduced in November for prepayment of
the registration charge.
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Government departments are granted free mail privileges,
effective 1 October.
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Postmasters are required to supply their own wax, stamp pads,
ink, cushions, and other stationery. In addition, they are expected to
purchase pigeonholes, drawers, signs, letterboxes, and other
fittings.
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| 1876 |
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Beginning 1 August, a 1400-km (900-mile) stage route is
established between Winnipeg and Fort Edmonton. The trip takes 21 days one
way.
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| 1879 |
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“Acknowledgement of receipt” or “AR” service
on registered mail becomes available 1 April. There is a fee of five cents
and the service is only available for international mail. The first
reference to domestic use of the AR service is in 1892.
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| 1881 |
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The Money Order and Savings Bank branches are amalgamated. The
position of General Superintendent of the Money Order and Savings Bank
branches is established.
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Thomas Fuller succeeds Seaton
Scott as Chief Architect at the department of Public Works.
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| 1882 |
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Construction of the Post Office at Hull, Quebec,
begins under the direction of Thomas Fuller.
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On June 1, newspapers and periodicals printed and published in
Canada are granted free transmission by post within the Dominion.
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The “reply postcard,” one half of which is intended
for the reply, is first issued for domestic use. Each half of the card is
imprinted one cent.
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A regular post office is proposed for the western extremity of
the track of the Canadian Pacific Railway; the office will move as the
track extends westward. This railway post office becomes known variously
as “Western Terminus,” “End of Steel,” or “End of
Track.” With the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the
driving of the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia, the
“End of Track” railway post office shuts down on 7 November
1885.
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The old Northwest Territories, the part west and north of
Manitoba, is divided into the provisional districts of Assiniboia,
Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabaska “for the convenience of settlers
and for postal purposes.”
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| 1884 |
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The Eaton Company, established at Toronto in 1869, issues its first mail-order
catalogue.
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The Post Office department takes delivery of 16 brass rollers,
or “revolving cancellers”,
from Pritchard and Andrews at a cost of $1.65 each.
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| 1886 |
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The first transcontinental train leaves Montréal on 28
June and arrives at Port Moody, British Columbia, on 4 July. With the
already existing connections between Montréal and Halifax, an
all-Canadian mail service is established.
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Beginning 1 August, parcel post begins operating between Canada
and the United Kingdom for parcels not exceeding 1.3 kg (three pounds) in
weight.
Government Savings Banks operating under the jurisdiction of the
department of Finance are transferred to the Money Order and Savings Bank
branch of the Post Office.
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| 1888 |
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Post Office Savings Banks are opened in British Columbia,
starting 1 June 1888.
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Pre-cancelled stamps are first
used about this time. These stamps are to be used for mailing quantities
of 25 000 pieces of mail or more.
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| 1889 |
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The Railway Mail
Clerks’Association meets for the first time. Around 1916, the
Association becomes the Dominion Railway Mail Clerks’ Federation,
and, later, about 1951, the union is renamed the Canadian Railway Mail
Clerks’ Federation.
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The unit of weight for letters in Canada increases from a half
ounce (14 grams) to one ounce (28 grams).
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A hand-to-hand delivery registration system is introduced and
the registration fee increases from two cents to five cents.
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| 1890 |
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International registration is introduced to all countries. The
registration fee is set at five cents in addition to postage.
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| 1891 |
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On 15 September, letter carriers form the Federated Association of Letter
Carriers (FALC), which, in 1966, becomes the Letter Carriers’
Union of Canada (LCUC).
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| 1894 |
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A post office is established in La Trappe, Quebec. An
elaborate-looking sorting case is installed at
about this time.
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| 1896 |
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In the United States, free rural delivery begins in
October.
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Perforated stamps with the initials of an individual or
commercial firm are permitted.
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Electric mail marking machines (cancellation machines) are
introduced into the Montréal and Ottawa Post Offices. This is the
first step in the mechanization of mail sorting.
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Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada, names Sir William Mulock
Postmaster General on 13 July.
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| 1897 |
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In honour of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen
Victoria, Canada’s first commemorative stamps are issued. The set
consists of stamps and a special one-cent postcard. The stamps are in
denominations of ½, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, and 50 cents, and
$1.00, $2.00, $3.00, $4.00, and $5.00.
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Approval is given for the establishment of a monthly mail
service to the Yukon.
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The position of Controller of Railway Mail Service is
created.
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Beginning of 50 years of policies and reforms that are decisive
in the history of postal communications in Canada, thanks to three Deputy
Postmasters General: Robert Miller Coulter (1
August 1897 to 1923), Louis-Joseph Gaboury (17
August 1923 to 1935) and Joseph Alexander Sullivan
(1935 to 1945).
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In Alaska, the first American
post office opens its doors on 23 July 1867, three months before Alaska is
officially turned over to the U.S in 1897. This first office, with John H.
Kinkead as Postmaster, opens at Sitka in southeast Alaska. After that
quick start, however, the service expands only sporadically during the
next three decades, mirroring the slow growth of Alaska’s non-native
population. When the discovery of gold in the Yukon is made public, that
changes. Although the Yukon gold fields are in Canada, tens of thousands
pass through Alaska on their way in. As the mass concentration of people
inches along the passes from Dyea and Skagway, Alaska, over the mountains
and down the Yukon River, they look to the postal services in Canada and
the U.S. to provide a link back to their homes and families.
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| 1898 |
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Braille books for the blind mailed anywhere in Canada are exempt
from postage.
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Effective 1 July, the “dead letter” branch is
decentralized. Branch offices open in Charlottetown, Saint John, Halifax,
Québec, Sherbrooke, Montréal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto,
Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, and Victoria. Fifty years later, in November
1948, it is announced that the dead letter office is centralized at
Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. In January 1954, the dead letter
office is renamed the “undeliverable mail office.”
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The first Christmas stamp in the
world is issued by Canada. Also known as the “map stamp,” it is the first
multi-coloured stamp issued by Canada.
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Special delivery service for letters is inaugurated on 1
July.
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The “postal note system” is introduced on 4 August to
provide the public with a cheap and convenient means of remitting small
sums of money.
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Effective 25 December, Imperial penny postage is established at
a rate of two cents per half ounce (14 grams).
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| 1899 |
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Funds in the amount of $5000 are voted by Parliament for the
purchase of two automobiles to be used by the
Post Office in Toronto.
The cars were supposed to be used to transfer bulky loads of mail between
Union Station and Terminal A, the city’s largest sorting facility at
the time. They were also to be used to help empty the street letter boxes.
In fact, the cars were never purchased. Instead, the Post Office bought
six quadricyles—a kind of motorized bicycle—the following
year.
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