Canada Post Corporation (French: Société canadienne des postes) is a
Canadian postal service operated as a
crown corporation. The successor to the Post Office
Department of the Government of Canada, Canada Post was created on
October 16, 1981 by the Canada Post Corporation
Act[1] to set a new
direction for the postal service, creating more reliable service and ensuring the postal service's financial security and
independence.[1]
About Canada Post
Canada Post trucks in Edmonton
Every business day, Canada Post provides service to 14 million addresses,[2] delivering 40 million items.[3] Delivery takes place via traditional "to the door" service by 15,000 letter carriers,
supplemented by approximately 6,000 vehicle routes in rural and suburban areas, and truck
delivery of parcels in urban areas. There are 6,800 post offices across the country, a combination of corporate offices and
franchises which are operated by private retailers in conjunction with a host retail business, such as a drugstore. In terms of
area serviced, Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation, including Russia (where service in Siberia is limited largely to communities along the
railroad).
On a consolidated basis, the Corporation processed 11.6 billion pieces during year 2006. Consolidated revenue from operations
reached $7.3 billion and consolidated net income totalled $119 million.[4] To compete effectively, Canada Post operates as a group of companies called The Canada Post Group. It
employs 72,000 full and part-time employees to deliver a full range of delivery, logistics and fulfillment services to customers.
The Corporation holds an interest in Purolator Courier, Innovapost, Progistix-Solutions and Canada Post International Limited.[5]
Canada Post (French: Postes Canada) is the Federal Identity
Program name. The legal name is Canada Post Corporation in English and
Société canadienne des postes in French.
History
- See also Postage stamps and postal history of
Canada
Mail delivery first started in Canada in 1693 when Pedro da Silva was paid to deliver
mail between Quebec City and Montreal. Official
postal services began in 1775, under the control of the British Government up to 1851. The first postage stamp (designed
by Sir Sandford Fleming) went into circulation in Canada that same year. It was not
until 1867 when 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). It
took effect April 1, 1868, providing uniform postal service
throughout the newly established country. 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.
Canada Post started early with airmail, with the first airmail flight taking place on
June 24, 1918 carrying mail from Montreal to Toronto. Regular
airmail service began in 1928.
The 1970s was a tough decade for Canada Post, 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"[2],
which transformed Canada Post into a Crown corporation to create the Canada Post
Corporation (CPC). The legislation also includes a measure that legally guarantees basic postal service to all Canadians. It
stipulates that all Canadians have the right to expect mail delivery, regardless of where they live.
Several historical sites related to the history of Canada Post can be visited today. In Ontario, the first Toronto Post Office is still in operation.
The site of the Air Canada Centre was once the Canada Post Delivery Building. Also
notable are the Vancouver Main Post Office and the Dawson, Yukon, Post Office, a National Historic Site of Canada.
Timeline
Stamp issued by Canada Post to commemorate:"Pedro da Silva dit le Portugais, 1705, First Courier in New France"
- 1693 - First paid mail delivery within Canada
- 1775 - British Government begins offering mail service in Canada
- 1851 - Canadian Government takes control of mail delivery
- 1867 - Canada Post is created as a federal department
- 1878 - Canada Post joins Universal Postal
Union
- 1957 - Dr. Maurice Levy invents the automatical postal sorter, which could handle
200,000 letters per hour.
- 1971 - Initial implementation of the postal
code
- 1981 - Canada Post Corporation Act is passed by Parliament
- 1981 - Canada Post is turned into a Crown Corporation
- 1993 - Canada Post purchases a majority stake in Purolator Courier
- 2006 - Introduction of the Permanent
Stamp, a stamp that is always worth the basic domestic mailing rate.
Mail format
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 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 contains 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. If mailed within
Canada, the country is not necessarily indicated at the bottom.
Examples:
the provided name is fictitious
JOHN JONES
MARKETING DEPT
10-321 1/2 MAIN ST W
MONTRÉAL QC H3Z 2Y7
|
JOHN JONES
1234 MAIN ST
PO BOX 4001 STN A
VICTORIA BC V8X 3X4 |
JOHN JONES
1234 7TH CONCESSION
SITE 6 COMP 10
RR 8 STN MAIN
MILLARVILLE AB T0L 1K0 |
JOHN JONES
GD STN MAIN
WALKERTON ON N0G 2V0 |
Major products and services
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: Transction Mail, Parcels and Direct Marketing.
Transaction mail
The lettermail service allows the transmission of virtually any paper document. The basic rate is currently set at 52
cents for one standard letter (30g or less) and is regulated by a price-cap formula, linked to the inflation rate.[6] The Corporation has recently introduced a “permanent” stamp
that retains its value forever, eliminating the need to buy 1 cent stamps after a rate increase.The rates for lettermail are
based or weight and size and determine whether the article falls into the aforementioned standard format, or in the oversize
one.
Canada Post maintains that Canada has one of the lowest basic letter rates in the world[3] because government regulation caps increases for this at below inflation. All
other rates are not capped and have generally been increasing above the rate of inflation.
Mail sent internationally is known as letterpost. It can only contain paper documents (See Light Packet and Small
Packet below). The rate for a standard letter is of 93 cents if sent to the United States, and $1.55 if sent to any other
destination.
Parcels
Domestic
Canada Post offers four domestic parcel services. The rates are based on distance, weight and size. The maximum acceptable
weight is 30 kg.
A Canada Post delivery truck in Montreal.
Regular Parcel
- Delivery time ranges from 2 to 9 days depending on the destination.
Expedited Parcel
- Avaiable only to commercial customers.
- Delivery time ranges from 1 to 7 days depending on the destiantion.
Xpresspost
- Is a service for parcels and documents.
- Delivery time ranges from 1 to 2 days between major centres.
Priority Courier
- Is a service for parcels and documents.
- Provides next day service between major centres.
International
Light Packet
- Compensates for the fact that goods are prohibited in the letterpost(regular mail) service.
- Maximum weight is 500g .Maximum dimensions are 380 mm x 270 mm x 20 mm.
- Rates based on weight and destination (USA or international).
Small Packet
- Air and surface services are available.
- Maximum weight is 1 kg (USA) and 2 kg (International).
Expedited Parcel USA
- Available for items sent to American addresses only.
- Despite its name, does not provide any service guarantee.
- The maximum acceptable weight is 30 kg.
Xpresspost-USA and International
- Provides speedy and guarenteed 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).
International Parcel
- Air and surface service available.
- Provides delivery to countries to which Xpresspost is not available.
Direct marketing
Addressed Admail
- Promotional mailings targeted to specific residents.
- Minimum quantity of 1,000 articles.
Unaddressed Admail
- Consists of printed matter and product samples that are not addressed to specific delivery addresses in Canada, but to
specific neighbourhoods or cities.
Digital postage meter
Effective June 30 2007, Canada Post requires[7] that all postage meters be digital,
with a Postage Security Device. The Digital Postage Meter prints a 2D barcode in the meter
impression, strengthening security.
Choosing Canada’s stamps
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.[8]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.[8]
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.[8]
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.[8]The committee’s process and selection policy have changed little in the thirty
years since it was introduced.
Noted stamps
Major postal plant locations
- Victoria, BC
- Vancouver, BC
- Richmond, BC
- Calgary, AB
- Edmonton, AB
- Saskatoon, SK
- Regina, SK
- Winnipeg, MB
- Windsor, ON
- London, ON
- Kitchener, ON
- Hamilton, ON
- Mississauga, ON
- Toronto, ON
- Ottawa, ON
- Montreal, QC
- Quebec, QC (scheduled to close in spring 2008)
- Saint John, NB
- Fredericton, NB
- Dieppe, NB
- Halifax, NS
- St. John's, NL
Organizational issues
Labour troubles
Canada Post has a history of troubled labour relations with its trade unions, particularly the Canadian Union of Postal
Workers and the Letter Carriers Union of Canada (which merged with CUPW in 1989) culminating in periodic strike action which has brought mail service in Canada to a halt. There have been at least 19 strikes,
lockouts and walkouts between 1965 and 2005 including several wildcat strikes. A number of
these strikes have seen the corporation employ strikebreakers and most, since the 1970s,
have resulted in back-to-work legislation being passed by the Canadian
parliament.
Canada Post was also the setting for one of the most controversial labour rulings of recent years. After several prosecutions
for theft at Mississauga's Gateway Postal Plant, the union won a ruling from a
labour board that the workers involved could not be dismissed as the length of the investigation exceeded the ten-day limit in
the collective agreement under which any allegation of misconduct had to be brought to the attention of the worker. Although the
ruling was reversed on appeal, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that although
the decision may have been incorrect, it was not so totally without merit that the labour board's decision should be overturned
[clarify][citation needed]. The court noted the language was in
the collective agreement to keep supervisors from holding infractions over the head of a worker indefinitely.
Recently, however, Canada Post has begun to emerge from its labour troubles. In 2007, the corporation was named one of
Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine.[9]
Rural Mail
Concerns over safety of rural mobile delivery personnel on busy roads has been an ongoing concern. To protect employees, the
corporation has had mail moved to relocated mail box or centralized to community mail boxes. Relocating the mail delivery
generated complaints to federally elected officials. In December 2006, the Conservative minority government ordered that Canada
Post maintain rural delivery wherever possible.
Modernization
Moya Greene, the CEO of Canada Post, has been quoted as saying that years of under-investment to improve the company has hurt
its efficiency and its financial performance. In September 2007, she estimated that modernizing the corporation would cost
$2.7-billion over five to seven years for new buildings, equipment, technology and training.[10]
See also
Footnotes
External links
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