CANADA POST

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 25, 2008) - To celebrate 100 years of educating Canadians to save lives, Canada Post today issued a domestic rate stamp honouring the Lifesaving Society. The Lifesaving Society's singular focus is to prevent drowning and water-related injuries through training programs.

"Canada Post has paid a great honour to the centenary of the Lifesaving Society." said Timothy Feher, the Society's national CEO. "We are celebrating 100 years of service to Canadians as the authority for lifeguard training, aquatic safety standards, research and technical innovation and public education for drowning prevention. It is an extraordinary legacy that we can be proud of in Canada. The fact that the stamp is being released during the Society's National Drowning Prevention Week, serves to underscore the importance of this issue among Canadians in all communities across the country."

While swimming was extremely popular across Europe during the late 19th century, little focus was paid to the instruction of lifesaving, making drowning a common form of death. Fortunately, William Henry, a renowned swimming champion in the 1880s and '90s, recognized the need to develop and teach lifesaving programs and started a movement that would be felt across the ocean. In 1894, Arthur Lewis Cochrane was named a Royal Lifesaving Society's Honorary Representative in Canada and brought home the lifesaving skills he had learned in England. Through his efforts, the Ontario Branch of the Society was established on December 10, 1908. Little did Cochrane suspect that the 18 Upper Canada College students who earned the first Bronze Medallions in Canada were the vanguard of over 7 million Canadians who would come to hold the Society's award.

Designer Derwin Goodall wanted to create an "inviting" stamp. The cool crisp white frame mixes with an airy outdoor scene and projects the Lifesaving Society's goal of encouraging water safety and swimming skills. The action photographs in the background illustrate two kinds of water rescue while the lifeguard on the forefront represents the more than 500,000 Canadians who train in Lifesaving Society programs each year. "I wanted a fresh and lively look to convey some of the energy and responsiveness involved in lifeguarding as well as the confidence you need to really take care of people," said Goodall.

The 52-cent stamp measures 40 mm x 26 mm (horizontal) with simulated perforations. Lowe-Martin printed 2.25 million stamps which will be sold in booklets of 10. The self-adhesive stamp will be printed using lithography in number six colours plus varnish on Tullis Russell paper. They are general tagged on all sides. The Official First Day Cover will bear the cancel TORONTO ON.

Additional information about Canadian stamps can be found in the Newsroom section of Canada Post's website, and photos of these new stamps are in the Newsroom's Photo Centre. Stamps and Official First Day Covers will be available at participating post offices, or can be ordered online by following the links at Canada Post's website www.canadapost.ca, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre. From Canada and the USA, call toll-free: 1 800 565-4362, and from other countries, call: 902 863-6550.