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| 1900 |
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In June, booklets of 12 two-cent postage stamps are introduced
for convenient carrying. They are priced at twenty-five cents; the extra
cent is to cover the cost of binding.
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A Canadian contingent of five postal staff is sent to South
Africa to assist the British Postal Corps during the Boer War.
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| 1901 |
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The first real advertising slogan is used in cancelling machines
to advertise “Canada’s Exposition, Toronto, August 26 to
September 7.”
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| 1902 |
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Initial meetings leading to the formation of the Canadian Postmasters
Association begin in 1902. The man who was eventually to be very
involved in the association— Henri Roy—is born in this
year.
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| 1903 |
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The Post Office department authorizes the transmission of
picture postcards within Canada.
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On 3 February, a “postage-paid-in-cash” arrangement
for circulars and catalogues is introduced.
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| 1904 |
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Beginning 28 March, registered letters are insured against loss
of money or valuables up to $25.
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| 1905 |
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The Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are created, effective
1 September 1905.
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An inland parcel post system is inaugurated in
Newfoundland.
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| 1906 |
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On 1 July, an accounting system for short-paid postage,
collected by Postmasters by means of special stamps known as “postage
due” stamps, is adopted.
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Pre-cancelled postage stamps are authorized for postage on third
class mail matter.
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| 1907 |
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The position of Assistant Deputy Postmaster General is created.
The first Assistant Deputy Postmaster General is E. H. Laschinger.
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Beginning January 1, stamp depots are established at Winnipeg,
Calgary and Vancouver for the more convenient supply of stamps to western
post offices.
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Sub post offices are established and authorized to sell postage
stamps at a commission of one per cent of stamp purchases.
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“Special delivery” service is established in 15
August.
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On 1 October, as authorized by the Universal Postal Union
Congress of 1906, “international reply coupons” are introduced
to prepay reply letters from correspondents in foreign countries.
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The Universal Postal Union standardizes the cost of sending a
letter between different countries: 25 centimes for the first 25 grams
(five cents for the first ounce). Previously, the lowest postal rate was
applied to the first half ounce. Henceforth, it is easier for immigrants using the
Canadian postal service to correspond with friends and family in the home
country or elsewhere around the world.
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| 1908 |
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In October, rural delivery mail service is
introduced between Ancaster and Hamilton, Ontario, for the first time in
Canada.
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| 1910 |
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The Post Office department allows use of perforated postal stamps with
distinctive marks.
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| 1911 |
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The Canadian Postal Corps is
organized within the Canadian Militia.
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The first Postal Clerks Association is
formed. In 1928, it merges with the Mail Porters Association to form the
United Postal Employees of Canada (UPEC). In 1931, UPEC changes its name
to the Canadian Postal Employees Association, which in 1965, becomes the
Canadian Union of Postal Workers, or CUPW, as it is known today.
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| 1913 |
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The first coils—rolls of 500 one- and two-cent
stamps—are made available to the public.
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| 1914 |
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Parcel post service, providing for the transmission within
Canada of parcels up to five kg (11 pounds) in weight, is inaugurated on
10 February.
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On 29 May, the Canadian Pacific Railway’s passenger
steamship, Empress of Ireland,
collides with the Norwegian collier, Storstad, in the St. Lawrence
River about 11 km (seven miles) northeast of Pointe-au-Père,
Quebec. Over 1000 people lose their lives and four railway wagonloads of
mail sacks go down with the ship. Many pieces are recovered later.
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The Post Office of Val Morin
Station opens in a house built by Fidèle Ouellette. Thus begins
the story of an interesting object in the Canadian Postal Museum’s
collection, the Val Morin Station cash register.
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| 1915 |
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The position of a Chief Mail Censor is created. Canada is at
war.
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Under the Special War Revenue Act, a war tax is imposed
on mail matter. A one-cent tax is levied on letters and postcards mailed
in Canada for delivery in Canada, the United States or Mexico, and on each
letter mailed in Canada for delivery in the United Kingdom and British
possessions, and wherever the two-cent rate applies.
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| 1918 |
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The first official airmail flight in Canada is flown by Captain
Bryan Peck from Montréal to Leaside, Toronto, on 24 June. The mail
consists of 124 special envelopes. A continuous airmail service does not
become available until 1928.
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On 9 July, Katherine Stinson becomes the first woman to
officially carry the mail by air on an Alberta flight between Calgary and
Edmonton.
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Postal workers engage in their first strike over the alleged
failure of the government of the day to honour promises of increased wages
and certain bonuses voted by Parliament. Strike action lasts about a month
and is primarily centered in the West, specifically in Winnipeg, with some
support from postal workers in Toronto and Hamilton. In 1919, postal
employees sympathetic to the Winnipeg strikers are dismissed; some of the
dismissed Post Office employees are rehired in 1920.
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| 1919 |
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On 3 March, the first international airmail flight is undertaken
between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seattle, Washington. Although it
is not a regularly contracted flight, it is considered the first
international airmail flight in North America.
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The first non-stop transatlantic airmail flight is accomplished
by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown on 14 June between St.
John’s, Newfoundland, and Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. The flight
is completed in 16 hours and 12 minutes.
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