The first postal stamp in Canada was designed in 1851 by Sir Stanford Fleming. The stamp depicted a beaver in an oval frame and was known as the Threepenny Beaver. Postage stamps became a staple element to sending mail across Canada and across the globe.

A postmark is usually affixed to the postal cover (envelope or box) that cancels the stamp and keeps it from being re-used. It will also indicate the time, date and place of postage. These were originally applied by hand before the mechanical cancellation was invented.

Postage was written by hand directly onto the letters prior to the development of the modern stamp, and red ink was used to cancel the payment notation.

Post stamps were used to to show proof of payment of letters and parcels. This happened prior to delivery, but on occasion the payment of postage could be passed on to the recipient of the parcel. If that were to happen, the recipient had the ability to refuse the letter. This caused a major problem for the postal service as the costs of delivering mail were not recoverable if the postage could not be paid or was refused.

There are many different types of postmarks that were used in the mail service. Some that are notable like, First Day of Issue stamps, and Paid/Unpaid stamps. These stamps, especially the First Day of Issue stamps, are highly sought after by collectors around the world for their uniqueness and rarity. Cancellation stamps came in varying designs, like single circle rings, double circle rings, bullseyes, broken circles, wavy lines and sometimes even slogans. What made some of these unique were that they were sometimes designed to commemorate a date, event or anniversary and even for advertisement to the public.