Editing Canada Post (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Royal Mail Canada, rural mail delivery cart, Ancaster-Hamilton (I0000746).tif|thumb|A Royal Mail Canada rural mail cart, October 1908]]
Prior to rural mail delivery, many Canadians living outside major cities and towns had little communication with the outside world. On October 10, 1908, the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1908ae.shtml|title=Free Rural Mail Delivery|website=[[Canadian Museum of History]]|access-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref>  The extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural Canadian residents was a major achievement for the Post Office Department.

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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html |title=Canada's First Air Mail Historical Plaque |access-date=2012-07-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212220/http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_ABC/Canadas_First_Air_Mail.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 }}</ref> By 1927, airmail service had expanded to Manitoba, and a regular airmail route between [[Rimouski]], [[Quebec City|Quebec]], [[Montreal]], and [[Ottawa]] had been established. In 1937, the Post Office provided [[Trans-Canada Airlines]] with airmail contract. Daily airmail service between Vancouver and Montreal began in 1939.<ref name="canencyc">{{Cite web |title="The Postal System" article in the Canadian Encyclopedia online |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/postal-system |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322213205/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/postal-system |archive-date=2012-03-22 |access-date=2013-09-23}}</ref>
{{multiple image|totalwidth=330|align=left|direction=vertical|image1=Royal Mail.jpg|caption1=A functional mailbox from the 1900s, bearing the name Royal Mail Canada|image2=Canadian Post Office Letter Carrier Hat (14579239685).jpg|caption2=A Canada Post Office letter carrier hat, {{circa|1970s}}|footer=The postal service operated under the name Royal Mail Canada until the 1960s, when the brand was phased out.}}
The [[Postal savings system#Canada|Post Office Savings Bank]] system, an agency created by the April 1868 Post Office Act, was phased out in 1968–69.<ref name="Post Office Savings Bank - Canadian Museum of History">{{cite web |title=Civilization.ca – A Chronology of Canadian Postal History |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1868be.shtml |website=Canadian Museum of History |access-date=17 June 2018}}</ref>

==== Crisis and reform ====
The 1970s was a difficult 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",<ref name="C-10" /> which transformed Canada Post into a [[Crown corporation]] to create the ''Canada Post Corporation (CPC)''. The legislation also included a measure legally guaranteeing basic postal service to all Canadians. It stipulates that all Canadians have the right to expect mail delivery, regardless of where they live.

In 1985, Canada Post began phasing in community mailboxes instead of door-to-door delivery in new subdivisions. This was met with legal challenges, requiring an Ontario court to rule that the Canada Post Act does not require door-to-door mail delivery.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Canada Post hiking prices, ending door-to-door delivery in cities, urban areas |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/canada/Canada+Post+phase+home+delivery+urban+centres/9273560/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003515/http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/canada/Canada+Post+phase+home+delivery+urban+centres/9273560/story.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=July 12, 2015 |work=Calgary Herald}}</ref>

By 1989, Canada Post had resolved much of its financial troubles, reporting its first profit since 1957.<ref name=":1" /> It continued to operate at a consistent profit from 1995 to 2010.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com">{{cite news |author=Barrie McKenna |date=April 17, 2013 |title=Canada Post swings to profit but red ink looms |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-swings-to-profit-but-red-ink-looms/article11327974/ |work=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>

In 1993, Canada Post purchased a majority stake in [[Purolator Courier]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canadian post office to buy 75-percent stake in Purolator for $24 million – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/06/04/Canadian-post-office-to-buy-75-percent-stake-in-Purolator-for-24-million/1612739166400/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> In 2000, it launched Epost, which allowed customers to receive bills from participating merchants and institutions online for free. Epost was discountinued at the end of 2022.