Sub-series consists of files relating to the provision of air mail service. Some documents appear to have been selected to comprise this subject, rather than having been created by the Post Office as part of its operational files. The sub-series includes scrapbooks, press releases, a small sample of early airmail route registers and correspondence files on the establishment of airmail routes.
Canada. Post Office Dept. Air Services Division : With the development of the aircraft, it was only a matter of time before it would be used as a means of transporting the mail. The first official airmail flight in Canada was undertaken on June 24, 1918 by Captain Brian Peck, flying between Montreal and Toronto with a handful of letters. Two weeks later, on July 9, 1918, Kathleen Stinson, the first woman in Canada to officially carry mail, ferried about 250 letters on a flight from Calgary to Edmonton.
From time to time similar flights were made to stimulate public interest in aviation; however, it was not until the autumn of 1924 that a serious attempt was made to adapt the airways to the needs of the Post Office. The first use of a semi-official airmail stamp in Canada was on September 21, 1924 for a flight between Haileybury, Ontario and the Rouyn, Quebec mining district, but it was not until 1927 that the first contract was signed for regular airmail service. The inaugural service provided by Western Canada Airways Ltd. was a distance of 82 miles, twice a week between Bissett and Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. In 1929, the Air Mail Service Division was officially established within the Post Office and airmail service became a regular feature.
By 1948 the Air Mail Service Division was a part of the Communication Branch and was responsible for investigating and recommending proposals for establishing, extending, curtailing, or discontinuing air mail services; negotiating rates and completing contracts; and maintaining records for use in passing accounts for payment for air mail services contracts. By 1961 the division was under the jurisdiction of the Chief Superintendent of Planning and Research, Transportation Branch and in 1964 the name changed from Air Mail Service Division to Air Services Division. In 1971 the Manager National Transportation Services was responsible for the administration of contracts for air, rail and water. RG3 General Inventory and (Canada Post Office: An Organizational History, 1841-1974, pp. 44, 59, 188.
