New Christmas Cancels

Its almost that time of year again! Christmas! Canada Post has released two new pictorial cancels for this holiday season.

The first is an updated Christmas Island cancel. It features an updated holiday wreath and candy canes compared to last year's cancel.

The next one is a brand new cancel from Rivière-du-Loup QC. 

Here is the description from Canada Post's Facebook Page

Did you know that Rivière-du-Loup, Que., is the Christmas Capital? Their annual festival, "Noël chez nous", is the first of the season in Quebec to welcome Santa Clause. The festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. Our team at the Rivière-du-Loup post office have been very active in participating in this annual event, and this year we have a special postmark to commemorate the city's unique title.

Make sure to send your Christmas Cards to either of these Post Offices to get them cancelled!

Brockville ON

I originally sent out the Brockville cover in hopes of getting the new "Birth Place of Our Canadian Flag" cancel. Unfortunately the Post Master informed me that the cancel was re-called as it wasn't fully decided if Brockville would be the official city. The cover was instead cancelled with their "Canada's Oldest Railway Tunnel" cancel dated March 10, 2015.

Ste-Luce-Sur-Mer QC

2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence. Ste Luce Sur Mer was the city closest to the site of the sinking. The hand cancel is dated Feb 26, 2015 and the machine cancel is dated Feb 27, 2015. This particular cancel is not listed on Canada Post's Website.

Here is a complete cancel

Mailing address for the Post Office to get this cancel is 

STE-LUCE-SUR-MER BUREAU DE POSTE

57 DU FLUEVE O

SAINTE-LUCE QC G0K 1P0

50th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag

On Feb 15, 2015 the iconic Canadian flag celebrated its 50th anniversary. Canada Post released a special $5 dollar stamp to commemorate the anniversary. This is the first time ever that Canada Post printed a stamp on real fabric.

Details

Issue Date: February 15, 2015

Stamp Designer: Kosta Tsetsekas, Signals, Vancouver

Stamp Value: $5.00

Number of Stamps Included: 1

Dimensions:140 mm x 90mm

Number Issued: 300,000

Christmas Island NS

Well it's that time of year again! This cover comes from Christmas Island, Nova Scotia. Unlike the Christmas Island Australia post office, this post office has a very festive postmark. Every year the Christmas Island NS post office gets thousands of cards from around the world to get the unique Christmas wreath post mark.

The postmark is stamped in two colours and is dated Dec 4, 2014

The mailing address for Christmas Island PO is below.

Churchill MB

Here's a special cancel from Churchill Manitoba. AKA Polar Bear Capital of the world, large numbers of polar bears trek into the town during the summer months when the sea ice is gone in search of food. The cancel is dated   November 18, 2014. This is one of the few cancels not listed on Canada Post's website.

Edmonton AB

This postcard has two pictorial postmarks from the Albertan Capital of Edmonton. The first postmark features Edmonton City Hall with the phrase Alberta's Capital City. The date stamp on this cancel doesn't work anymore.

The second postmark is the Chinatown Gates postmark, it was introduced for the Chinatown Gate Stamps that were released last year, Edmonton was one of the cities featured on the stamp. There are two Chinese guardian lions at the top of the postmark in very fine detail and the word door written in Chinese at the bottom. The postmark is dated August 29, 2014.

These two cancels are available at the Main Post Office in Edmonton:
EDMONTON MAIN PO
11808-104 AVE NW
EDMONTON AB T5K 0C0

Eureka NU

This cover is from Eureka Nunavut, which is a small research base in Northern Canada. It took about 2 months for this cover to come back to me after I sent it out! 

Iqaluit NU

This cover is from the northern community of Iqaluit Nunavut. The post mark has a picture of an inukshuk as well as a some words written in Inukitut. The pictorial cancel is dated June 2, 2014 while the machine cancel is dated June 7, 2014.

Houston BC

This cover comes from Houston British Columbia. The town is home to the world's largest fly rod and its featured on the postmark.The fly rod is 18 m long  and weighs over 350 kg! The postmark is dated May 15, 2014 

Harry Hill AB

Hairy Hill is a small Hamlet located in East Central Alberta. The postmark features a Bison and the pictorial postmark is dated May 9, 2014 while the machine cancel is dated May 10, 2014.

Christmas Island AU

This is my first international cover and one of the most challenging to get. This cover is from Christmas Island Australia located in the Indian Ocean. It took about 2 months for this cover arrive but it's well worth it. The postmark marks feature the Christmas Island Red Crab and is dated May 19. 2014.

 The mailing address for this post office is:

Christmas Island Post Office

412 Canberra Pl

Christmas Island WA 6798

Australia

Make sure your return envelope has Australian stamps  on it, if you don't have Australian stamps just enclose an International Reply Coupon (sold at the post office).

Berwick NS

This cover is from Berwick Nova Scotia. Berwick is known as the Apple Capital of Canada, the post mark features an image of an apple with the words "Town of Berwick". It is dated May 2, 2014.

Bear River NS

This cover from Bear River Nova Scotia is one of my favourites. The postmark features a large cherry since Bear River is known for a large cherry carnival each year. The date on the postmark is May 2, 2014 

Little River NS

This cover is from Little River Nova Scotia. Little River is located in the Bay of Fundy, which is known for the highest tides in the world. The tides reach as high as 15 m. The postmark features a lobster and the quote "Catch of the Day". The postmark is dated May 1, 2014.

Cavendish PE

This cover comes from Cavendish Prince Edward Island. This is also the home of Anne of Green Gables, hence the hat with pony tails on the postmark. Anne of Green Gables is a popular book written by Lucy Montgomery of a girl who lives on a farm house in Prince Edward Island. I sent this cover out over a month ago and it just came in the mail the other day. The pictorial cancel is dated July 21, 2014, while the machine cancel is dated July 22, 2014.

Alix AB

This cover comes form the Central Albertan town of Alix. The cancel features the town's mascot known as "Alix Gator". The postmark is dated April 30, 2014, but the machine cancel is dated May 1, 2014.

Here is a clearer version of the postmark from the Canada Post website:

Bath NB

This cover comes from the small village of Bath, New Brunswick. Located on the Western side of the province, it's just a few kilometres from the US border with Maine. The postmark features a bathtub filled with bubbles to reflect the unique name of the town. The cancel is dated April 17, 2014.

Niagara-on-the-Lake ON

The last of the Haunted Canada cancels comes from Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario.  The post mark features the same haunted figures from the stamp. The cancel is dated July 9, 2014. Surprisingly this is the last of the Haunted Canada covers to come back to me considering I got the phantom ship cover from Nova Scotia back faster which is further away from me than Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Ontario's Fort George: Phantom footsteps and ghosts make this one of the most haunted places in Canada (From Canada Post)

Monarch AB

This cover comes from Monarch Alberta, just northeast of Lethbridge. The cancel features a monarch butterfly. The cancel should be dated April 30, 201. Although the date isn't very clear, at least the butterfly is nice and clear.