industry postal service courier founded 1867 headquarters 2701 riverside drive 1 ottawa ontario k1a 0b1 key people deepak chopra president and ceo judy foote minister of public services and procurement si n matthews chairperson of the board products courier express services freight forwarding services logistics services number of employees 64 000 2 website www.canadapost.ca canada post corporation known more simply as canada post french soci t canadienne des postes or simply postes canada is the crown corporation which functions as the country s primary postal operator . originally known as royal mail canada the operating name of the post office department of the canadian government founded in 1867 rebranding was done to the canada post name in the late 1960s even though it had not yet been separated from the government . on october 16 1981 the canada post corporation act came into effect . this abolished the post office department and created the present day crown corporation which provides postal service . 3 the act aimed to set a new direction for the postal service by ensuring the postal service s financial security and independence . 4 canada post llv seen in montreal quebec . canada post provided service to more than 15.8 million addresses and delivered almost 9 billion items in 2015 and consolidated revenue from operations reached 8 billion . 2 delivery takes place via traditional to the door service by 25 000 letter carriers through a 13 000 vehicle fleet . there are more than 6 200 post offices across the country a combination of corporate offices and private franchises that are operated by retailers such as drugstores . 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 railway . as of 2004 nearly 843 000 rural canadian customers received residential mail delivery services . 5 canada post operates as a group of companies called the canada post group . it employs approximately 64 000 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 . 6 in 2000 canada post created a company called epost allowed customers to receive their bill online for free in 2007 epost was absorbed into canada post . canada post french postes canada is the federal identity program name . the legal name is canada post corporation in english and soci t canadienne des postes in french . during the late 1980s and much of the 1990s the short forms used in the corporation s logo were mail english and poste french rendered as mail poste in english canada and poste mail in quebec 7 although english language advertising also still referred to the corporation as canada post . contents 1 history 1.1 timeline 2 ombudsman 3 mail format 4 major products and services 4.1 transaction mail 4.2 parcels 4.2.1 domestic 4.2.2 international 4.2.2.1 light packet 4.2.2.2 small packet 4.2.2.3 expedited parcel usa 4.2.2.4 xpresspost usa and international 4.2.2.5 international parcel 4.2.2.6 priority worldwide 4.3 direct marketing 4.3.1 personalized mail 4.3.2 neighbourhood mail 4.3.3 snap admail 4.3.4 barcodes 4.4 e commerce 4.4.1 canada post store 4.4.2 comparison shopping 5 issue of stamps 5.1 noted stamps 6 organizational issues 6.1 labour relations 6.2 rural mail 6.3 modernization 6.4 phasing out door to door delivery 6.5 profits and losses 7 letters to santa claus 8 see also 9 references 9.1 bibliography 10 external links 10.1 personnel representation history edit through the 1960s the royal mail brand was replaced by canada post . new kaleidoscope pattern mailbox with the canada post brand . vancouver canada post office during the 2010 winter olympics . see also postage stamps and postal history of canada on august 3 1527 in st. john s newfoundland the first known letter was sent from present day canada . 8 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 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 headed by a cabinet minister the postmaster general of canada . the act 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 . prior to rural mail delivery many canadians living outside major cities and towns had little communication with the outside world . on 10 october 1908 the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in canada . 9 the extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural canadian residents was a major achievement for the post office department . the first regular air express mail delivery in 1928 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 . a modern plaque at the site of leaside aerodrome reads at 10 12 a.m. on june 24 1918 captain brian peck of the royal air force and mechanic corporal c.w. mathers took off from the bois franc polo grounds in montreal in a jn 4 curtiss two seater airplane . they had with them the first bag of mail to be delivered by air in canada . wind and rain buffetted the small plane and forced it to make refuelling stops at kingston and deseronto . finally at 4 55 p.m. peck and mathers landed at the leaside aerodrome immediately southwest of here . the flight had been arranged by a civilian organization the aerial league of the british empire to demonstrate that aviation was the way of the future . 10 a regular air express service began in 1928 . the 1970s was a tough 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 11 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 the post office department of canada 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 . in peggys cove nova scotia a nineteenth century lighthouse acts as a seasonal post office for the tiny coastal community . timeline edit year description 1693 first paid mail delivery within canada 1775 british government begins offering mail service in canada 1851 british provincial governments in canada take control of mail delivery 1867 following confederation federal post office department created 1878 post office department joins universal postal union 1927 contract air mail service begins in manitoba air mail between rimouski and quebec montreal ottawa begins 12 1937 canada post helps to finance trans canada airlines with air mail contract 12 1939 daily air mail service begins between montreal and vancouver 12 1955 2500 locals are the minimum number needed to initiate door to door delivery service . 13 1957 dr. maurice levy invents the automatic 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 1985 canada post begins phasing in community mailboxes instead of door to door delivery in new subdivisions 14 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 . canada post announces plans to review whether or not to continue rural individual mail delivery services to 843 000 canadian customers . 5 2013 canada post announces the phase out of door to door mail delivery in urban centres and announces an increase in the price of a stamp from 0.63 to 1 0.85 in bulk . sales of the permanent stamp were suspended until after the march 2014 rate increase . 5 ombudsman edit 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 . 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 . the services offered by the office of the ombudsman are free of charge . mail format edit canada postal codes on an anti graffiti mailbox . 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 john jones d pt marketing 10 321 rue charles ouest montr al qc h3z 2y7 john jones 1234 franklin ave po box 4001 stn a yellowknife nt x1a 2b5 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