Little Sister\u2019s Book & Art Emporium<\/a>, located in Vancouver, is also featured on a stamp in this year\u2019s collection. First opening its doors to the community back in 1983, the shop was founded by a couple, Bruce Smyth and Jim Deva, and their friend Barb Thomas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cYou would go in and be so thrilled to see [other] queer people,\u201d longtime Little Sister\u2019s manager Janine Fuller told Canada Post. \u201cPeople came from all over the world to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Sister\u2019s was specifically designed to serve the Vancouver 2SLGBTQ+ community, selling Queer books, magazines and newspaper publications. Because of this, the business became the target of Canada Customs, which started seizing materials deemed \u201cobscene\u201d at the border, including materials on Queer health, relationships and identities. This led to a community rally on Dec. 17, 1986, which saw the shop gain both media attention and the support of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following a long legal battle spanning opposing censorship that spanned several years, AKA Little Sister\u2019s Book & Art Emporium v Canada, in 2000 the Supreme Court of Canada determined that the store\u2019s Charter rights to equality and freedom of expression had been violated. The store continues to serve Vancouver\u2019s Queer population today.<\/p>\n
Saskatoon: Metamorphosis Festival<\/p>\n
An iconic festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that happened in the Prairie city in the late 70s is also a 2026 honouree. Metamorphosis Festival, widely considered the first celebration of 2SLGBTQ+ culture in Western Canada, was held on Thanksgiving weekend of 1978 and put on by various local community groups looking to drive change for Queer communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Canada Post says the event garnered a crowd of about 200 people, celebrating art and culture over four days with dancing, live music, workshops and other activities. Organizers also gathered festival goers together for a march to Saskatoon City Hall on the Saturday, while a Thanksgiving feast was held on the Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transformation of a butterfly \u2013 metamorphosis \u2013 is a remarkable symbol for this festival, for the celebration, because it was what was really happening with us,\u201d Lorna Boschman, who performed at the first Metamorphosis Festival, told Canada Post. \u201cThere were seeds of change that we were feeling. Then we all got together and all of a sudden a transformation started to happen. The community actually expanded by coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halifax: The Turret<\/p>\n
Located on the top floor of 1558 Barrington St., a building known for the turret that hangs over the street below, The Turret was a Queer nightclub that gave 2SLGBTQ+ communities in the Nova Scotian capital a safe place to gather from 1976 to 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere weren\u2019t any general Gay clubs in Halifax,\u201d Robin Metcalfe, former chair of the Gay Alliance for Equality, told Canada Post. \u201cThere were some bars that would tolerate us if we weren\u2019t acting \u2018too Gay\u2019. We couldn\u2019t hug or dance together. The Turret was a space of empowerment in the queer community.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to serving as a place to drink, dance and meet other Queer people, the bar was owned and operated by the Gay Alliance for Equality and became a centre for activism, hosting meetings, workshops and conferences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Turret qualifies as one of the most important Queer sites in Canada,\u201d Metcalfe said. \u201cBecause it represents a moment of power and real struggle.<\/p>\n
The building was also, at one point, home to the Alternate Book Shop, Halifax\u2019s first bookstore dedicated to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The store was founded by local Queer rights activist Tommy Burns, who was also a major player in the Gay Alliance for Equality, in 1975 and operated through 1983.<\/p>\n
The Places of Pride 2026 collection is now available to order<\/a>, with a booklet of eight stamps priced at $9.92.<\/p>\nLast year\u2019s collection, also illustrated by Tim Singleton, featured Club Carousel, Calgary\u2019s first gay bar, Montr\u00e9al\u2019s Gay Bar Truxx, Toronto\u2019s Hanlan\u2019s Point Beach, and the 3rd North American Native Gay & Lesbian Gathering in 1990 held near Beausejour, Manitoba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to know Canada Post\u2019s 2026 Places of Pride collection honours Toronto\u2019s The 519 alongside three other significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,13348,9535,12889,32067,13349],"class_list":["post-81378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-pride","tag-queer-now","tag-queer-toronto","tag-the-519","tag-toronto-pride"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260604-173816-CanadaPost-PlacesOfPride-519_AndrewWilliamson-9360-1800x1200.jpg\")
Courtesy: Andrew Williamson<\/p>\n![\"Group](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260604-192116-CanadaPost-PlacesOfPride-519_AndrewWilliamson-6993-1800x1200.jpg\")
A special event unveiling the Places of Pride stamps at The 519. (Courtesy: Andrew Williamson)<\/p>\n