How to Find a Postal Code in Canada

To find a Canadian postal code, use the lookup tool provided by Canada Post, the national postal operator, and enter the full address: civic number, street name and type, municipality and province. The result gives you the six-character code for that delivery point.

Use the full address

Because the code can change from one side of a street to another, and from one block to the next, the civic number matters. Include the unit number if the building is divided into apartments, since a large building may have its own code. For a rural address, give the route, the post office or the community name.

Other reliable sources

• A letter or invoice. A recent piece of mail from the address is the fastest confirmation.
• The recipient. Ask for the code directly. People tend to know their own.
• An official site of the business or institution. Organizations usually list their full address with the code on their contact page.
• Map and navigation apps. These often show a postal code with an address, but data can lag behind changes, so verify important ones with the postal operator.

How to verify a code

Check the format first: letter, digit, letter, space, digit, letter, digit, using none of D, F, I, O, Q and U. Then confirm that the first letter fits the province you expect. The format guide lists these rules. If the format is correct but the code is still questionable, enter the whole address in the postal lookup and compare the returned code to the one you have.

If you are unsure

• Do not invent or reuse a nearby code; the wrong code can delay the mail or send it to another sorting depot.
• In a new housing development, codes may be assigned after the addresses are registered, so a very new address may not appear in tools straight away.
• If two sources disagree, trust the postal operator's own lookup.
• For a courier, supply the address and any helpful description of the entrance or access road.

A precise point beside the code

Where a postal code covers more than a few hundred metres, as in the countryside, an exact point helps. You can mark it on the UPCS map and share the CA-XXXX-XXXX style code (placeholder) next to the postal code. It is not an official code and does not replace the postal code. Learn more in the Canada overview or the address layout guide.