Marking 150 years of Royal Canadian Mounted Police

By Molly Goad

Canada Post issued a new stamp booklet of six May 23 commemorating the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on its 150th anniversary.

The RCMP 150th Anniversary stamp features a member in traditional dress acknowledging the organization’s history, along with images that represent the modern RCMP — including the role of its civilian members and public service employees.

The RMCP was founded on May 23, 1873, as the North-West Mounted Police. In 1874, a mounted unit of 300 men recruited from Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia set out on what is known as the March West to administer Canadian laws in the Northwest Territories after the transfer of jurisdiction from Britain.

Over the years, the organization’s role has changed as it gradually took on policing duties in more provinces and territories, along with federal responsibilities.

Today, RCMP employees serve many functions, including preventing and investigating crime; enforcing federal, provincial and territorial law; protecting national security; and contributing to international intelligence-sharing and peace operations.

“The stamp is a fitting tribute to both the heritage of our organization and to the amazing people who proudly serve the RCMP today and who dedicate their careers to keeping Canada safe,” RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said.

The stamp is nondenominated, paying the permanent rate for domestic letters weighing up to 30 grams (currently 92¢). This is represented by the letter P inside a maple leaf in the upper left corner of the design.

Canada Post serviced 5,000 first-day covers for the stamp with an Ottawa, Ontario, cancellation, showing a horse and rider.

The cachet on the FDC features a close-up of the officer on horseback featured in the design of the new stamp.

Both the stamp and the FDC include the text “RCMP GRC 1873-2023” in a dark color with “150” in a lighter color behind it. (GRC stands for the police force’s French name, “Gendarmerie royale du Canada.”

Rejean Myette designed the stamp and FDC, and Lowe-Martin printed them. A total of 100,000 booklets of six were produced.

The Canada Post ordering numbers are 414224111 for the booklet of six and 414224131 for the FDC.

The new stamp booklet and FDC are available from Canada Post’s online store; by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

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