OTTAWA – With an academic history nearly as old as Canada’s, St. Francis Xavier University will be given top honours, on April 4th, when Canada Post issues a 48¢ stamp to honour the University’s 150th anniversary. A total of three million stamps, sold in booklets of eight, will be available at post offices across the country.

StFX is more than a place to receive an education: it prides itself on being a home to its students. The university is famous for its friendliness, school spirit, loyal alumni and its tradition of service to others. Xaverians are proud of their alma mater’s academic excellence and its equal emphasis on research and teaching.

" This stamp represents the significant contribution that St. Francis Xavier University has made to excellence in post-secondary education in Canada throughout its distinguished history ", said the Honourable David Collenette, Minister of Transport and Minister Responsible for Canada Post. "I am delighted that my good friend Senator Al Graham, A StFX graduate, will represent me at the unveiling."

St. Francis Xavier University was founded in 1853 in Arichat, Cape Breton, by Bishop Colin MacKinnon, in response to the need for pastoral clergy. Two years later, the school was moved to Antigonish in the northeastern part of Nova Scotia. Full university powers were conferred upon the college in 1866 by an act of the Nova Scotia Legislature and StFX began to grant the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1897, the institution became the first Catholic coeducational university in North America to grant degrees to women. Two years later (1899), St. Francis Xavier initiated the first engineering school in Nova Scotia.

Today StFX has about 3,700 students in arts, science, business and information systems, and applied programs. Two thirds of the student body is from Nova Scotia, and the remainder is welcomed from other provinces and from countries around the world. The university is also in the midst of a revival with a $75-million capital renewal initiative that has seen new student housing and state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities already constructed.

St. Francis Xavier is the third of five stamps commemorating significant anniversaries of universities in Canada Post’s 2003 stamp program. Earlier this year, Bishop’s University and The University of Western Ontario were conferred stamps, and Guelph University’s Macdonald Institute and the Université de Montréal will receive the same honour later this year. All five stamps are designed by Denis L’Allier of Montréal, whose stamp credits include Public Service International World Congress (2002), Summit of the Americas (2001) and Petro-Canada (2000).

All stamps in the series share common design elements – the use of school colours, a campus building or landmark and the coat-of-arms of the institution. The StFX stamp incorporates a photo of Xavier Hall, declared to be a historic site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, taken by Guy Lavigueur. The venerable building, which once encompassed all of StFX, now houses the Department of university advancement and education.

Available for sale at post offices across the country on April 4, 2003, the stamp measures 36mm x 45mm, and will be sold in booklets of eight. The stamp was printed by Canadian Bank Note, using six-colour lithography and P.V.A. gum, on Tullis Russell Coatings paper. The stamp is general tagged on all four sides and has 13+ perforations. The Official First Day Cover cancellation will read Antigonish NS.

Stamps and Official First Day covers will be available at participating post offices, 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. Stamp information may also be found in the Newsroom section of Canada Post’s Web site. Follow the links off the homepage at www.canadapost.ca.

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For further information, contact:
Tim McGurrin, Ottawa, Ontario
(613) 734-8876