London, Ont., will celebrate two centuries of postal service this fall when CANPEX 2025 opens Oct. 18–19 at the Hellenic Community Centre, 133 Southdale Rd. West.
The national-level exhibition will pay tribute to the city’s 200-year postal legacy with competitive exhibits, a lively dealer bourse, and a Saturday evening awards reception. Admission and parking are free, with a lunch counter available for visitors.
This year’s theme highlights the March 26, 1825 appointment of Lawrence Lawarson as London’s first deputy postmaster. The city’s postal story began in his father’s Byron-area store before moving to several locations and, in 1860, to a new post office at Richmond Street and Queens Avenue. That site served Londoners until 1936, when the Federal Building opened – a downtown landmark that still stands today.
London also played a role in key national milestones. In 1854, Canada’s first mail train began operating between London and Niagara Falls, where clerks sorted letters en route. Just three years later, specially outfitted railway post office cars cut delivery times dramatically – reducing, for example, the Quebec City to Windsor route from 10 days to only 49 hours. By 1908, free rural mail delivery was introduced through efforts led by Ontarians George Wilcox and Joseph Armstrong, expanding service to communities surrounding London.
Founded in 2016, CANPEX – hosted by the Middlesex Stamp Club with help from volunteers across southern Ontario – has built each annual show around a local milestone. Sanctioned by The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada and part of the American Philatelic Society’s World Series of Philately, the exhibition promotes philatelic excellence while coinciding with Stamp Collecting Month. This year’s 200th-anniversary celebration promises to connect Canada’s postal past with today’s collectors in a distinctly London way.
For more information about CANPEX 2025, visit canpex.ca.