Updated March 30th: Dates subject to change (unless past!) Links are to specific issues’ blog pages.
January 9 Year of the Rooster, Vancouver, B.C.- January 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada, Trepassey N.L.
- February 1 Black History: Mathieu Da Costa
- February 4 Opera in Canada
- March 1 Daisies
- April 8 Battle of Vimy Ridge (World War I)
Vimy Ridge, the Halifax Explosion and the 100th anniversaries of the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs are part of Canada Post’s stamp program for 2017
Special Canada 150 stamp collection yet to be revealed
Canada Post will welcome the country’s sesquicentennial with a 2017 stamp program that introduces a wealth of new subjects and winds up some long-running series.
With Canadians gearing up for the 150th anniversary of Confederation and a year of celebrating, Canada Post will place a special 150th anniversary feature on each stamp in the 2017 collection.
“Every stamp helps tell Canada’s story,” says Deepak Chopra, President and CEO of Canada Post. “With this year’s lineup, we’re not only helping to tell our country’s story, but we’re also helping to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada, which we all come together to celebrate.”
New stamp issues include:
- Black History Month: The story of Mathieu Da Costa, believed to be the first person of African descent to reach Canada whose name survived in the historical record.
- Canadian Opera: A look at two great Canadian operas, as well as some talented individuals who have put our country on the world stage in opera.
- Daisies: A bouquet of two indigenous blooms; southern Ontario’s lakeside daisy and showy fleabane, found in the high country of British Columbia and Alberta.
- Battle of Vimy Ridge, 100th Anniversary: We respectfully honour the thousands of Canadians who lost their lives or were injured while securing Vimy Ridge from enemy forces.
- Multiculturalism – Eid, Diwali and Hanukkah celebrations: Stamps that depict our pride in being a land of diverse customs and celebrations.
- National Hockey League 100th Anniversary: Looking back on a century of the game that connects us all.
- Toronto Maple Leafs™ 100th Anniversary: A celebration of a proud history of the boys in blue.
- Halifax Explosion 100th Anniversary: We look at how Halifax weathered this terrible and deadly event, the greatest marine tragedy of its time.
Several stamp series or annual issues that will continue or conclude are:
- Lunar New Year: Year of the Rooster (Vancouver, January 9th)
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada
- Canadian Photography
- Birds of Canada
- Canada Post Community Foundation
For [2017]’s Christmas greetings, mailers can choose a sacred image, with Adoration of the Shepherds by Tommaso de Stefano Luneti or whimsical images of woodland creatures.
Additional 2017 stamp issues in development will be announced closer to their release date.
Many of Canada’s stamp topics are the result of suggestions from the Canadian public or organizations wishing to commemorate a significant person, milestone or event. Canada Post is welcoming suggestions for consideration for the 2019 program and beyond.
A overview is in the September Details magazine from Canada Post:
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites (final installment)
- Year of the Rooster
- Mathieu Da Costa / Black Heritage (thought to be the first African to set foot on Canadian soil) (February)
- Daisies (March)
- 100th anniv of Battle of Vimy Ridge (April)
- Canadian Photography (final installment)
- Canadian Opera
- National Hockey League centennial
- Toronto Maple Leafs centennial
- Community Foundation stamp
- Christmas stamps
- “a few other surprises along the way”
OTTAWA, SEPT. 8, 2016 /CNW/ – Don’t give up the ghosts – another fright-filled adventure is yours to enjoy in Canada Post’s latest collection of five Haunted Canada stamps. [The stamps were issued September 8th. —VSC]
The Bell Island Hag – Bell Island, N.L. The spirit, it is said, dwells in the marshes near Dobbin’s Garden and appears to a lone person, overpowering him or her with her stench. As she covers her victim with her cowl, she always hisses the same words: “No one came to help me when I died in that swamp. No one will help you. Now taste what I tasted and smell what I smelled as my life was taken from me.” The victim is found hours later, unconscious and reeking of death.
The Dungarvon Whooper – Renous, N.B. Lumberjacks returned from work one day to discover their young cook dead and his money belt missing – apparently the work of the camp boss. The cook was quickly buried as a snowstorm blew in, and in the night, terrifying whoops and wails issued from his shallow grave. The lumberjacks fled in terror, never to return. To this day, Miramichi residents claim to hear the cook’s mournful cries, despite the efforts of a priest to quiet the grave years after the suspected murder.
The Lady in White – Montmorency Falls, Que. Hidden in the roar of Montmorency Falls are the cries of La Dame blanche (the Lady in White) calling out for her lost love. It was at the falls that Mathilde Robin’s fiancé, Louis Tessier, had courted her. Little did the betrothed couple know that Louis was soon to perish in battle during the Seven Years’ War. Overwhelmed with grief at the news of this death, Mathilde donned her wedding gown and tossed herself into the raging cataract.
The Phantom Bell Ringers of the Kirk of St. James – Charlottetown In the early morning of October 7, 1853, a sea captain was mystified to hear what sounded like the clanging of a ship’s bell coming from the town centre. He made his way to the Kirk of St. James, where he and the church keeper spied four women, one peering down from the belfry. The two men pursued the women up to the tower but found nothing except the bell, still vibrating. Later that day, the Fairy Queen mail steamer sank in stormy seas, with seven lives lost, including four women – three were members of the congregation of the Kirk of St. James.
The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre – Toronto Staff and patrons have witnessed all manner of apparitions and otherworldly events in the restored theatre centre. A woman dressed in Edwardian dress has reportedly appeared in the lobby, while the hand-operated elevators have been seen stopping of their own accord at various floors. And be careful where you sit – the seats in the Winter Garden Theatre have flipped down and back up, as if unseen audience members had sat down and got up again. Or so they say.
The stamps measure 32 mm x 32 mm and are available in booklets of 10. They were designed by Lionel Gadoury and printed by Colour Innovations in five colours with a holographic foil. The issue also includes a souvenir sheet of five stamps measuring 127 mm x 73 mm, an Official First Day Cover (above) cancelled in Renous, N.B., and an uncut press sheet (below) measuring 650 mm x 480 mm. There are also five postage-paid postcards (available individually or as a set of five) and a Haunted Canada gift set of coin and stamps. 
5098 (25¢) Star Quilt coil stamp, heart quilting in corners
5101 (47¢) 1938 International Harvester D-2 Pickup Truck booklet stamp
According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Daniel Piazza (right), chief curator of philately, and Calvin Mitchell (left), assistant curator of philately, are the recipients of the 2016 Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prizes for their exhibit and catalog, “Freedom Just Around the Corner: Black America from Civil War to Civil Rights.”
American History from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m.
It measures 2.98” x 1.416”. The B&W postmark is the standard 4-bar First Day Of Issue.
On September 24, 2016, in Kansas City, MO, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Eastern Tailed-Blue (Butterfly) Non-machineable Surcharge rate stamp, (Non-denominated priced at 68 cents), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 119500).
Updated October 5th:
It measures 3” x 1.6”. The B&W postmark for this issue is the standard 4-bar First Day of Issue postmark.
On October 5, 2016 in New York, NY, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Diwali stamp (Forever priced at 47 cents) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 588800).
Issue: Patriotic Spiral Stamp
5095 (47¢) Soda Fountain Favorites – Banana Split, long sloping die cut at bottom (see closeup on right)
