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Canada Post ( Postal Service operated as an independent 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 to set a new direction for the postal service, creating more reliable service and ensuring the postal services financial security and independence.
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In 2004 Canada Post handled 10.9 billion mail items. It employed 70,000 people in its traditional mail operations and an additional 12,500 at the 94% owned Purolator Courier parcel delivery subsidiary.

Canada Post delivers to 13 million addresses daily, Monday to Friday, using a combination of traditional "to the door" door delivery, 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. A more recent electronic delivery method for routine bills and statements was introduced in 1999, named e-Post. 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).

There are 280,000 retail points of deposit for mail, a combination of CPC staffed locations and franchises which are operated by a private retailer in conjunction with a host retail business.

Overall revenues for CPC in 2004 were $ 6.7 billion ( US$ 5.6B), of which the traditional mail business made up 81%, Purolator 17% and electronic and consulting activities generated 2%. Income after taxes was $147 million (US$121 million).

Canada Post Systems Management Limited , CPSML, was founded by the CPC in 1990 to Market the company's systems and technology in the global marketplace. As of the end of 2000 , there were 80 successful projects in 38 countries.

''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 .


LABOUR TROUBLES

Canada Post has a history of troubled Labour Relations with its Trade Union s, particularly the Canadian Union Of Postal Workers and the Letter Carrier's 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 and walkouts between 1965 and 2005 including several Wildcat Strike s. A number of these strikes have seen the corporation employ Strike Breaker s 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. The court noted the language was in the collective agreement to keep supervisors from holding infractions over the head of a worker indefinitely.


ADDRESSING ENVELOPES

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 put 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. The price of postage for a standard-size domestic letter, as of January 16 , 2006 is 51¢, which, according to Canada Post, is among the lowest basic postage rates in the developed world.

Official addressing protocol is for the address to be typed in Block Letters , using a fixed-pitch typeface (such as Courier). The first line(s) of the address are for 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 city name, a single space, the two-letter province abbreviation, two full spaces, and then the Postal Code .

Examples:


SERVICES OFFERED BY CANADA POST


Letter services
  • Lettermail

  • Incentive Lettermail

  • Xpresspost

  • Priority courrier

  • Addressed Admail

  • Unaddressed Admail

  • Catalogue Mail

  • Publications Mail

  • Purolator Courier


Parcel services
  • Regular Parcel

  • Expedited parcel

  • Small packets(to international destinations)

  • Xpresspost

  • Priority Courier

  • Purolator Courier



STAMPS



SEE ALSO



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