The Georgetown photograph from September 28, 1959, therefore represents an important moment in local history. At that time, bringing the mail directly to the front door represented convenience and progress.
Door-to-Door Mail Delivery Comes to Georgetown in 1959
A photograph from that day shows postal employees standing on the steps of the Georgetown Post Office.
From left to right are Cliff Culbert, Jim Bradley, Jim Williams, Albert Turner, Teo Wittekeok, who delivered parcels, Les Dickenson, Edgar Scott, Ron Ovenden, and Gordon Inglis.
September 28, 1959
For Georgetown residents, the arrival of door-to-door delivery meant that the daily mail would no longer require a trip to the post office or another central collection point. The mail carrier would bring letters directly to people’s homes.
Over the following decades, the postal carrier became a familiar figure in Georgetown neighbourhoods. The arrival of the mail was part of everyday community life, connecting local residents with family, businesses, newspapers and government services across Canada.
The 1959 photograph therefore captures more than a group of postal employees. It records a moment when a new form of everyday service was introduced to Georgetown — one that would remain familiar for generations.
Photo left: Acton mail delivery began on Monday 9 September 1974. Learning to sort mail are new carriers with Dan MacDonald of London. They are (LtoR) George Forrest, Gerry Lamarche, Rod McEachern, Margaret Bedard and Dan Arbic.
Photo right: Mailman Leonard Malenfant on Glen Williams house to house mail delivery which began on 2 October 1967, after street signs were installed by the Township.
It is important to note, however, that door-to-door mail delivery did not begin in Canada in Georgetown in 1959. Canada had a much longer tradition of letter carriers delivering mail directly to homes, although such delivery was never provided to every address. The Georgetown date marks the introduction of the service in Georgetown, rather than its beginning across Canada. A recent federal report describes Canada’s postal system as having more than 200 years of history, including letter carriers delivering mail door to door to some addresses. (Canada)
A Brief History of Mail Delivery in Canada and Ontario
Canada’s postal history goes back well before Confederation. Mail travelled by foot, horseback, stagecoach, steamship and, later, by railway and aircraft. The postal system played an important role in connecting scattered communities across the growing country.
One important development came in 1908, when Canada introduced free rural mail delivery. This expanded access to postal services for people living outside established towns and cities and became an important part of rural Canadian life.
Over time, different forms of residential delivery developed. Some Canadians received mail directly at their doors, while others used rural mailboxes, post offices, apartment lobby boxes or other centralized delivery points.
A major change came in the late 1980s, when community mailboxes began to be introduced more widely. Canada Post later explained that homes built in new developments had been receiving delivery through community mailboxes for about 40 years.
The most dramatic change came in December 2013, when Canada Post announced plans to convert the remaining addresses receiving door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes. The five-year program was intended to affect approximately five million addresses across Canada.
The first major conversions began in 2014, including communities in Ontario such as Oakville. The program quickly became controversial, with communities and residents objecting to the proposed locations of the new mailboxes and to the loss of traditional home delivery.
On October 26, 2015, Canada Post suspended further conversions to community mailboxes. Approximately 460,000 addresses were then in the process of being converted.
The federal government subsequently maintained a moratorium on converting existing door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes. By 2024, Canada Post reported that less than one quarter of Canadian addresses still received letter mail at the door, while more than 70 percent had some form of centralized delivery.
The story has now entered another chapter. In September 2025, the federal government lifted the moratorium on community-mailbox conversions and authorized Canada Post to begin converting the remaining approximately four million door-to-door addresses. (Canada) In April 2026, Canada Post announced that preliminary work on this multi-year transformation was underway, including the conversion of remaining door-to-door addresses to community mailboxes. (Canada Post)
INFO:
https://esquesinghistoricalsociety.com/
https://www.canada.ca/
https://origin-www.canadapost.ca/