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| 1920 |
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The registration fee on letters and other matter mailed in
Canada is fixed at 10 cents per letter, effective 15 July.
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| 1921 |
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Parcel post insurance is introduced.
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Canada approves the use of postage meters. The first machine is
supplied by the Pitney Bowes Company.
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| 1922 |
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Cash
on Delivery (COD) is inaugurated in October.
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| 1923 |
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The Post Office philatelic agency is established.
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| 1924 |
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The business reply postcard is authorized for use in
Canada.
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The first use of a semi-official airmail stamp in Canada is made
on 21 September for a flight between Haileybury, Ontario, and Rouyn,
Quebec, the northern mining districts of both provinces.
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Mechanical sorting equipment is installed at Toronto and, by
1926, similar equipment is in use at all larger Canadian cities.
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| 1925 |
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The postal zoning system is introduced in Toronto.
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Bilingual postcards are released.
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Gummed cash register tapes are used to replace stamps on
third-class and parcel post mailings for postage paid in cash.
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| 1926 |
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The use of the red Christmas postmark is first reported in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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On 14 October 1926, Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry is hired by the Latécoère air line.
He pilots his first mail transport flight between Toulouse, France, and
Casablanca, Morocco. |
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| 1927 |
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Experimental airmail trips between Montréal and Rimouski
to establish the feasibility of air service herald the introduction of
airmail service to Canada. On 1 October, the first official airmail
service contract goes into effect. The first flight takes place on
4 October between Bissett, Wadhope and Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, a
flying distance of 132 km (82 miles).
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On Christmas Day 1927, pilot Roméo Vachon makes the
first airmail delivery to the North Shore of Quebec. Roméo Vachon
is a pioneer of Canadian aviation not only as an airmail pilot, but also
because of his exceptional skills as an aircraft mechanic and airline
administrator.
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Canada Post celebrates the 60th anniversary of
Confederation with a series of five stamps.
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Regulations are established to standardize mailboxes in
apartment buildings.
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| 1928 |
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Canada’s first official airmail stamp, a five-cent brown,
is issued on 21 September. The first flights using the new stamp are
made the next day on the Toronto-Ottawa-Montréal-Rimouski
service.
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Motorcycles are used experimentally to collect mail from street
letter boxes. They are found to be particularly suitable for the crowded
business districts in cities. At the same time, trucks are introduced to
collect mail in the downtown sections of Montréal and Toronto. Big
cities are handling increasingly larger volumes of mail.
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Canada truly enters the airmail age with the
inauguration of two runs: Pointe-au-Père/Montréal and
Montréal/Toronto.
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| 1929 |
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Three-cent “business reply” envelopes are first
introduced in Toronto and Montréal.
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The world’s most northern airmail service is inaugurated
between Fort McMurray, Alberta, and Aklavik, Northwest Territories.
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Issue of a postage stamp commemorating the Bluenose. It is one of
the finest stamps in the world.
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| 1938 |
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The last Midget model postage meter machines are withdrawn from
service in September and are replaced with a model “H”
machine.
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“Special delivery” service for parcel post within
Canada is inaugurated.
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| 1939 |
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Regular transatlantic and trans-Canada airmail service is
established.
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The departmental publication Postmark is first issued in
August. In December, it is suspended for the duration of the Second World
War and resumes publication in May 1948. In March 1969, Postmark
ceases publication. Another source of postal history goes by the
wayside.
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| 1941 |
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In November 1941, “airgraph message service” is
inaugurated. Messages from friends and relatives to members of the Armed
Forces in the United Kingdom can be photographed and flown overseas. The
initial postal rate is set at 10 cents. At first, an airgraph can only be
sent to the Armed Forces overseas. In November 1942, the service is
expanded to include airgraphs from personnel of the Royal Air Force, Royal
Navy, and British and Allied Armed Forces serving in Canada to their
families and friends in the United Kingdom. In July 1942, airgraph message
service becomes available to civilians in the United Kingdom. In July
1945, airgraph service is discontinued between Canada and all other
countries.
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| 1942 |
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In May, letter carrier delivery service is reduced from two
deliveries to one delivery a day, six days a week. In 1945, twice-daily
letter carrier service is restored “provided that such restoration
will be effective gradually ... when men returning from military service
are available ... [and] when the actual requirements of the public service
demand the restoration of the two deliveries per day.” In April 1946,
two deliveries per day are resumed in residential areas. In 1951, letter
carrier delivery service to residential areas is reduced from two to one
calls per day. Starting 17 February 1969, Saturday delivery service in
major urban centres is discontinued and a five-day week delivery service
is introduced.
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Special air letter cards for corresponding with prisoners of war
in Germany and Italy are made available to the public.
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The Armed Forces “air letter,” a combined letter and
envelope, is introduced with a postage fee of 10 cents when sent to
members of the Armed Forces overseas. In September 1944, the blue Armed
Forces air letter is extended for use by civilians to civilians. In
January 1945, the grey air letter replaces the blue Armed Forces air
letter for both service and civilian use.
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| 1943 |
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Postal censorship in Canada is transferred from the jurisdiction
of the Postmaster General to the Minister of National War Services.
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A stage route of over 1600 km (1,000 miles) opens to provide
daily mail service from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Whitehorse,
Yukon.
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| 1944 |
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In February, the “mailomat,” a public-use
coin-operated postage meter, is introduced in Ottawa.
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In March, the Canadian Army “casualty postcard” is
introduced for use in hospitals by next-of-kin.
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| 1945 |
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Trans-Pacific airmail service is introduced between Canada,
Australia and Fiji.
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Walter James Turnbull assumes
office as Deputy Postmaster General of Canada on 9 June 1945, retiring on
1 December 1957.
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| 1946 |
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In Ottawa, an experimental helicopter flight between Uplands
Airport and the Besserer Street Post Office is the first mail ever to be
carried by helicopter in Canada.
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After 31 December 1946, all free postage privileges and special,
reduced postage rates for members of the Armed Forces are
withdrawn.
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| 1947 |
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Special delivery service for airmail and surface mail between
Canada and the United States is inaugurated in April.
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The first postage-imprinted Canada air letter forms are
released.
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| 1948 |
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“All-up” airmail service is inaugurated 1 July
and provides for air transportation of all first-class mail where
possible.
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Roman numerals are introduced to indicate the month in date
stamps.
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| 1949 |
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Newfoundland joins Canada adding another 550 post offices to the
Canadian roster.
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| 1950 |
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“Special delivery” stickers are authorized for use by
the public to affix to letters and parcels.
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The Canadian Girl Guides Postal Badge is authorized.
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An experimental jet mail flight is undertaken between Malton,
Ontario, and Idlewyld, New York, on 18 April. The flight time is 59
minutes and 58 seconds and is the first flight of its kind in North
America.
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Special arrangements are made for postal service to
Canada’s Armed Forces proceeding to or serving in Korea.
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Canada’s smallest post office at Ocean Park, British
Columbia, closes. The first Postmaster, F. S. Pratt, originally set it up
in 1923 from a .56-m2 (six-foot-square)
collapsible house.
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