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International Context Canadian Air Mail: A Slow Beginning

In spite of the change that swept through Europe following the First World War, Canada was slow to institute an aerial postal service.

The end of the war meant the dismantling of Canadian squadrons; pilots returned home, and the planes left behind by the Royal Air Force were sold for very little money. However, the impact that aviation had made during wartime brought to the fore its possibilities as a carrier for Canada's remote regions. Legislation on aviation that would apply to all of the Dominion of Canada was requested, and plans to develop aerial transport were instigated. But the action went no further: the Canadian government had already invested enormous sums of money in the railway, and was not willing to develop a new system of transport that had no guarantee of success. Against the wishes of many, the government opted for the more conservative approach.

Although some efforts were made in 1918, postal flights never really took off. It was not until 1927 that circumstances forced the Canadian government to set up an aerial postal service.



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