List of postal codes in Canada

Postal codes were introduced in Canada in the early 1970s with the advent of automated sorting, and replaced postal zones in large cities. Like British postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. Most other postal and zip code systems use only numbers.

The first letter is for a province or a region, generally in order from east to west: The next two characters represent a rural district, a city, or a section of a major metropolitan area, and the remaining characters represent an entire small town, a single large building (or part of a very large one), a single (large) institution such as a university or hospital, or one side of a city block. The latter in urban areas may be a specific postal carrier's route. In rural areas where direct door-to-door delivery is not available, a postal code describes a set of post office boxes or a rural route.

Table of contents

1 Provinces and Territories 2 Forward Sortation Areas 3 Santa Claus 4 Reference

Provinces and Territories

Canada's provinces and territories each have their own two-letter abbreviation, which comes before the postal code:

AB Alberta
BC British Columbia
MB Manitoba
NB New Brunswick
NL Newfoundland and Labrador — NF (Newfoundland) until 1994   
NS Nova Scotia
NT Northwest Territories
NU Nunavut* 
ON Ontario
PE Prince Edward Island
QC Quebec — PQ (Province du Québec) until 1994  
SK Saskatchewan
YT Yukon

*Although NU has been designated for Nunavut, the abbreviation NT is still often used.

Forward Sortation Areas

The following is a list of postal code Forward Sortation Areas or FSAs) in Canada. See Canada Post for more details.

• List of A Postal Codes of Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador
• List of B Postal Codes of Canada - Nova Scotia
• List of C Postal Codes of Canada - Prince Edward Island
• D is not used
• List of E Postal Codes of Canada - New Brunswick
• F is not used
• List of G Postal Codes of Canada - Eastern Quebec
• List of H Postal Codes of Canada - Montreal
• I is not used
• List of J Postal Codes of Canada - Western Quebec
• List of K Postal Codes of Canada - Eastern Ontario
• List of L Postal Codes of Canada - Southcentral Ontario
• List of M Postal Codes of Canada - Toronto
• List of N Postal Codes of Canada - Western Ontario
• O is not used
• List of P Postal Codes of Canada - Northern Ontario
• Q is not used
• List of R Postal Codes of Canada - Manitoba
• List of S Postal Codes of Canada - Saskatchewan
• List of T Postal Codes of Canada - Alberta
• U is not used
• List of V Postal Codes of Canada - British Columbia
• W is not used
• List of X Postal Codes of Canada - Northwest Territories and Nunavut
• List of Y Postal Codes of Canada - Yukon
• Z is not used

Santa Claus

Canada Post uses a special postal code for delivering mail to Santa Claus every Christmas, and mail can be addressed to:

Santa Claus
North Pole H0H 0H0 
CANADA

H0H 0H0 is 'Ho, ho, ho!'

Obviously, the north pole is not located in Canada.

Reference

• Canada Postal Guide - FSA Maps