Canadian Postal Code Lookup

Understanding Canadian Postal Codes

Format: A1A 1A1 (Letter-Number-Letter Space Number-Letter-Number)

• 📍 First Letter: Province or territory
• 📍 Second Character: 0 = urban area, 1-9 = rural area
• 📍 Third Letter: Specific geographic area
• 📍 Last Three: Local delivery unit (LDU) - specific delivery area

Forward Sortation Area (FSA)

The first three characters (e.g., "K1A") make up the Forward Sortation Area:

• Identifies a specific geographic region
• Used by Canada Post for mail sorting
• Can indicate urban vs. rural based on second character
• Some FSAs cover large rural areas, others cover just a few city blocks

Urban vs. Rural Designation

The second character of the postal code indicates population density:

• 0 (Zero): Urban area - typically cities and densely populated regions
• 1-9: Rural area - smaller towns, villages, and countryside

Examples:

• • K1A (Ottawa urban) vs K7A (Kingston area)
• • M5V (Toronto downtown) vs M5X (rural Ontario)
• • V6B (Vancouver urban) vs V1A (rural BC)

Special Postal Codes

• H0H 0H0: Santa Claus (Canada Post's official Santa address!)
• K1A 0B1: House of Commons, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
• M5H 2N2: Toronto Stock Exchange
• Large Volume Mailers: Some organizations have dedicated postal codes

Postal Code History

• Introduced in 1971 to improve mail sorting efficiency
• Originally optional, became standard in 1973
• Canada was one of the first countries to implement alphanumeric postal codes
• Over 850,000 postal codes exist across Canada
• New postal codes are regularly created as areas develop

Why Letters D, F, I, O, Q, U Are Not Used

Canada Post intentionally excludes certain letters from postal codes:

• D, F, I, O, Q: Look similar to numbers (0, 1) and can cause confusion
• U: Reserved for future use
• W, Z: Also not currently used in first position
• This design reduces errors in handwritten addresses and OCR scanning

Official Resources

• 📮 Canada Post - Find a Postal Code
• 📮 Postal Code Formats
• 📮 Addressing Guidelines