Canadian Postal Codes
History
Toronto divided itself into postal regions in 1925, using a 1 or 2 digit number (not zero-padded).
The modern postal system was implemented in phases in the 1970s.
Specification
Canadian postal codes are 6 characters long in the format A1A 1A1. Note the space character delimiting the 3 character segments.
Postal Codes by Province
The leading character indicates a province or territory, with two provinces having multiple postal regions.
Province |
Abbreviation |
Postal Regions |
Newfoundland and Labrador |
NL |
A |
Nova Scotia |
NS |
B |
Prince Edward Island |
PE |
C |
New Brunswick |
NB |
E |
Quebec |
QC |
G, H, J |
Ontario |
ON |
K, L, M, N, P |
Manitoba |
MB |
R |
Saskatchewan |
SK |
S |
Alberta |
AB |
T |
British Columbia |
BC |
V |
Nunavut |
NU |
X* |
Northwest Territories |
NT |
X* |
Yukon |
YT |
Y |
* While Nunavut split from the Northwest Territories in 1999, mail continued to be processed together.
Furthermore, the second character indicates the type of destination. A 0 indicates either a rural region or a special purpose code. Any other digit indicates an urban region.
The entire leading 3 character segment indicates a postal region. These range from a block in Toronto (M5C) to all of the Northwest Territories excluding Fort Liard and Yellowknife (X0E).