NEW SORTING STATION THE HOUSE THAT JACKSON BUILT

ALBERT JACKSON’S FAMILY STAMP HIS NAME ON NEW SCARBOROUGH BUILDING 

If you don’t know who Albert Jackson was or what he looked like, you probably haven’t been s If you don't know who Albert Jackson was or what he looked like, you probably haven't been sending letters home to Mommy. Tall, fit, and finely groomed with a mustache, Canada's first Black mailman cut quite the figure walking his route. So much so that Canada Post put his painted portrait on a stamp back in 2019.

Born into slavery in the United States, Jackson was just a boy when his family escaped to Canada via the underground railroad. In Toronto, he pursued his education and won a position as a letter carrier in 1882. When he reported for work, he faced discrimination from his colleagues, who refused to train him. The debate over the situation raged for weeks until political pressure, especially from Toronto's Black community, triumphed, and Jackson was able to walk his route.

He passed away in 1918 at the age of 61. And while he is long gone, the memory of him hasn't. Last week, Canada Post bestowed another honour on him by naming a new state-of-the-art sorting building after him, The Albert Jackson Processing Centre. Canada Post's newest, largest, fastest, and greenest parcel sorting facility is now up and running in Scarborough.

"It has the capacity to process more than 60,000 packages per hour, or more than 1 million packages a day," reports Canada Post. "The facility doubles our processing capacity in the Greater Toronto Area – where most of Canada Post's parcels originate."

"It was a beautiful event," reported underground railroad photographer/historian Yuri Dojc. "It is very important to remember that things (technology) are changing, it is still iessential to remember that he was a pioneer, the first!"

This leading-edge building is Canada Post's largest, fastest, and greenest parcel sorting facility. It has the capacity to process more than 60,000 packages per hour, or more than 1 million packages a day. The facility doubles the company's processing capacity in the Greater Toronto Area – where most of Canada Post's parcels originate – and it will help improve service for Canadians and businesses across the country.

Canada Post executives, elected representatives, and union leaders were on the huge shop floor to make the opening official. Descendants of Albert Jackson also took part in the ceremony.

The actual Albert Jackson stamp is very much in demand from stamp collectors around the world. Designed by Andrew Perro and illustrated by Ron Dollekamp, the stamp showcases Jackson in the uniform he fought smile and a spring in his step, as if he has stepped out of history to hand you your mail."