Canadian Postal Codes by Province

• ALBERTA
• BRITISH COLUMBIA
• MANITOBA
• NEW BRUNSWICK
• NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
• NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
• NOVA SCOTIA
• NUNAVUT
• ONTARIO
• PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
• QUEBEC
• SASKATCHEWAN
• YUKON

The Canadian postal codes is a part of the postal address in Canada and contains six characters. Canadian postal codes are alphanumeric meaning they are in a format of letter before digit with a space separating the third and fourth characters. The introduction of Canadian postal codes began in the 1950's when mail flow began reaching the billions and ten-billions by the mid 60's. Six-character postal codes were introduced to Canada from 1972 to 1974. The postal codes system allowed for a faster and simpler method of mail flow in the country. Although many postal workers objected the Canadian postal codes because of wage differences for those who worked with them, the new system prevailed in the year of 1976.

The two parts to a postal codes Canada are the Forward Sortation Areas and the Local Delivery Units. The Forward Sortation Area is region in which all Canadian postal codes start with the same three characters. The first letter in the postal codes Canada is the "postal district". Outside of Quebec and Ontario, the postal district corresponds to an entire province or territory. Due to the large populations of Quebec and Ontario the two provinces have three and five postal districts. The first number of the postal codes Canada indicates if a district is an urban or a rural region. The second letter of the postal codes Canada represents a specific city or a major area.

The "Local Delivery Units" are the last three characters in a postal codes Canada. This is meant to find a specific address or a range of addresses in a town or a district. If a Canadian postal codes ends in a zero it means the postal codes belong to postal facility.

Postal codes Canada do not use the letters D, F, I, O, Q, or U as automated machines can easily confuse them with other letters and digits especially when written in cursive. There are no Canadian postal codes beginning with the letters W or Z although both letters are commonly used. This system allows for a maximum of 7.2 million Canadian postal codes. Currently, an estimated number of 850,000 Canadian postal codes are being used.