Canada Post Corporation (French: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (French: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation which functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Canadian government founded in 1867), rebranding was done to the "Canada Post" name in the late 1960s, even though it had not yet been separated from the government. On October 16, 1981, the Canada Post Corporation Act came into effect.