Canadian Postal Codes by Province and Territory

Canadian postal codes are six-character alphanumeric strings that form part of a postal address in Canada. They follow the format A1A 1A1, where A is a letter and 1 is a digit, with a space separating the third and fourth characters. As of October 2019, there were 876,445 postal codes, using forward sortation areas (FSAs), from A0A in Newfoundland to Y1A in Yukon.

How Postal Codes Work

The first three characters form the Forward Sortation Area (FSA):

• First letter: Identifies the postal district (usually corresponds to a province or territory)
• Second character: A digit that identifies urban (1-9) or rural (0) areas
• Third character: A letter that represents specific regions within the postal district

The last three characters form the Local Delivery Unit (LDU), which identifies specific addresses, buildings, or delivery routes.

Canadian Postal Code Ranges by Province and Territory (A-Z)

Detailed Information by Province/Territory

Alberta (AB) – Postal District T

• Range: T0A to T9Z
• Major Cities: Calgary (T1A-T3Z), Edmonton (T5A-T6Z), Red Deer (T4N-T4S)
• Rural Areas: T0A-T0Z (rural postal codes with second digit 0)
• Population: 4,262,635 (2021)

British Columbia (BC) – Postal District V

• Range: V0A to V9Z
• Major Cities: Vancouver (V5A-V6Z), Victoria (V8A-V9Z), Burnaby (V3A-V5Z)
• Rural Areas: V0A-V0Z
• Special Note: As of 2024, only three FSAs remain unused in British Columbia: V3P, V4H, and V4J.

Manitoba (MB) – Postal District R

• Range: R0A to R9Z
• Major Cities: Winnipeg (R0A-R3Z), Brandon (R7A-R7C)
• Rural Areas: R0A-R0Z
• Historical Note: Manitoba was the first province to receive the postal code system during the provincial rollout phase in 1971-1972.

New Brunswick (NB) – Postal District E

• Range: E0A to E9Z
• Major Cities: Saint John (E2A-E2S), Moncton (E1A-E1H), Fredericton (E3A-E3C)
• Unique Feature: New Brunswick (postal district E) is completely urbanized, its rural codes having been phased out.

Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) – Postal District A

• Range: A0A to A9Z
• Major Cities: St. John’s (A1A-A1H), Corner Brook (A2H-A2N)
• Rural Areas: A0A-A0Z
• Famous Code: A1A 1A1 is a genuine postal code in use in the Lower Battery, St. John’s Harbour, Newfoundland.

Northwest Territories (NT) – Postal District X

• Range: X0A to X9Z
• Major Cities: Yellowknife (X1A)
• Rural Areas: X0A-X0Z
• Special Note: Shares postal district X with Nunavut due to low population density

Nova Scotia (NS) – Postal District B

• Range: B0A to B9Z
• Major Cities: Halifax (B3A-B3Z), Sydney (B1A-B1S), Dartmouth (B2A-B2Z)
• Rural Areas: B0A-B0Z
• Military: Halifax hosts Fleet Mail Office (FMO) with postal code B3K 5X5

Nunavut (NU) – Postal District X

• Range: X0A to X9Z
• Major Cities: Iqaluit (X0A)
• Rural Areas: X0A-X0Z
• Special Note: The low populations in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories mean that even though Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories and became its own territory in 1999, the two continue to share a postal district.

Ontario (ON) – Postal Districts K, L, M, N, P

• Range: K0A-K9Z, L0A-L9Z, M0A-M9Z, N0A-N9Z, P0A-P9Z
• Major Cities:
  • Toronto (M0A-M9Z)
  • Ottawa (K0A-K9Z)
  • Hamilton (L0A-L9Z)
  • London (N0A-N9Z)
  • Thunder Bay (P0A-P9Z)
• Special Note: The large population of Ontario causes the province to be subdivided into five postal districts, and Toronto has a dedicated postal district (M).

Prince Edward Island (PE) – Postal District C

• Range: C0A to C9Z
• Major Cities: Charlottetown (C1A-C1E), Summerside (C1N-C1P)
• Rural Areas: C0A-C0Z
• Population: 154,331 (2021) – smallest province by population

Quebec (QC) – Postal Districts G, H, J

• Range: G0A-G9Z, H0A-H9Z, J0A-J9Z
• Major Cities:
  • Montreal (H0A-H9Z)
  • Quebec City (G0A-G9Z)
  • Laval, Longueuil (J0A-J9Z)
• Special Note: Quebec is subdivided into three postal districts, with Montreal having a dedicated postal district (H).

Saskatchewan (SK) – Postal District S

• Range: S0A to S9Z
• Major Cities: Saskatoon (S7A-S7Z), Regina (S4A-S4Z)
• Rural Areas: S0A-S0Z
• Population: 1,132,505 (2021)

Yukon (YT) – Postal District Y

• Range: Y0A to Y9Z
• Major Cities: Whitehorse (Y1A)
• Rural Areas: Y0A-Y0Z
• Population: 40,232 (2021) – smallest territory by population

Special Postal Codes

Santa Claus

Canada Post established an official Santa Claus letter-response program in 1983, with approximately 1,000,000 letters addressed to Santa Claus each Christmas. The special address is:

SANTA CLAUS
NORTH POLE
H0H 0H0
CANADA

The postal code H0H 0H0 was chosen for this special seasonal use, as it reads “Ho ho ho” if each zero is interpreted as the similar-looking letter O.

Military Postal Codes

For Canadian Forces mail, three postal codes are used:

• V9A 7N2 (BC): Fleet Mail Offices (FMO) in Victoria
• B3K 5X5 (NS): FMO in Halifax
• K8N 5W6 (ON): Canadian Forces Post Office (CFPO) in Belleville

Postal Code Format Rules

Postal codes use twenty uppercase letters of the English alphabet; they do not include the letters D, F, I, O, Q, or U. The first position also does not make use of the letters W or Z.

Maximum Theoretical Capacity

• Forward Sortation Areas (FSAs): 18 × 10 × 20 = 3,600 possible combinations
• Local Delivery Units (LDUs): 10 × 20 × 10 = 2,000 per FSA
• Total theoretical capacity: 7.2 million postal codes
• Current usage: Over 830,000 active postal codes represent about 12% of the entire postal code “space”.

Historical Background

Canada was one of the last Western countries to implement a nationwide postal code system. The introduction of the postal code began with a test in Ottawa on 1 April 1971. The system was gradually implemented in the rest of the country from 1972 to 1974, although the nationwide use of the code by the end of 1974 was only 38.2 per cent.

Usage Notes

1. Address Format: In Canadian addresses, the postal code follows the provincial/territorial abbreviation
2. Case Sensitivity: Postal codes are typically written in uppercase
3. Spacing: Always include a space between the third and fourth characters
4. Validation: Canada Post provides online tools and databases for postal code validation
5. Updates: Postal codes are regularly updated as communities grow and chang.