In 2004, Canada Post, Canadian Pacific Railway and Hudson's Bay Company launched Canada's first-ever traveling exhibition showcasing the crucial contributions that mail, rail and retail have made to opening up and developing Canada, and peeking back more than 150 years into the colourful history of the three enterprises. 

The exhibition, Mail, Rail, and Retail: Connecting Canadians, was presented in partnership with the Canadian Postal Museum of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.  The exhibition initially ran at the Canadian Museum of Civilisation in Gatineau, Quebec and then moved to the Vancouver Museum, with a final showing at the Revelstoke Railway Museum.

The Mail, Rail, and Retail exhibition was structured around six main themes:

• Connecting Canadians, showing how mail, rail and retail have contributed to Canada's development;
• Linking a Nation, tracing the development of communication and transportation that enabled the movement of information and goods across Canada;
• Immigration and Settlement, depicting how government, in conjunction with private sector rail and retail, supported initiatives that encouraged immigration and helped new immigrants settle in Canada;
• Urban and Suburban Development, showing how cities developed around the communication, transportation and retail services provided by the local post office, railway station and retail store;
• The Inside View, chronicling the employment opportunities created by rail, mail and retail services and their contribution to local economies;
• Glimpse into the Future, depicting the continuing partnership between mail, rail and retail services and their potential for helping Canada grow and prosper in the decades ahead