This information is updated monthly on our Internet site. However, changes to householder counts information are made on a daily basis to our internal systems so the information you see on Letter Carrier Walk maps may not be current or complete. To ensure that you have all Letter Carrier Walk information associated with the selected FSA(s), which may not be currently available on these maps, please click back to the Householder Count Page to determine all Letter Carrier Walk numbers included within the FSA(s) selected.

Targeting Your Audience

As Direct Marketers, you know the importance of targeting specific audiences or customers based on their geographic, demographic and lifestyle characteristics. This way, your business message reaches the people most interested in learning about your product or service offering.

Canada Post's Householder Counts can help by providing the geographic information that you need to target your audience when using Unaddressed Admail.

The Power of the Postal Code

The six-character postal code determines how mail is sorted and delivered in Canada. Canadian postal codes are structured in an alphanumeric format: K7L 1B3, for example. The pattern is always Letter/Number/Letter, followed by a full space, then Number/Letter/Number.

The first three characters of the postal code are known as the Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and pinpoint a general area to which mail is delivered. The first character represents a province or territory or a portion within either. For example, in the postal code K7L 1B3, the letter K represents eastern Ontario, while the 7L indicates a geographic area of the city of Kingston. By using the FSA, you can find the information you need to plan your Unaddressed Admail mailings.

The last three characters of the postal code are called the Local Delivery Unit (LDU). The LDU reveals a specific delivery point, such as a building, a large-volume receiver of mail, or a range of addresses on a street.

Householder Counts provides information on Urban and Rural counts for both the Consumers' Choice program and Total Points of Call.

Consumers' Choice

Canada Post allows you to target your customers more effectively by respecting the wishes of consumers who indicate, through a self-produced note on their mailbox or mail receptacle, that they do not wish to receive unaddressed materials. The only exemptions are materials from Elections Canada and provincial Chief Electoral Officers, House of Commons mailings, municipal electoral mailings and community newspapers.Therefore your mail piece is received by customers who want to receive it. The breakdown of delivery points with these notices are referred to as Consumers' Choice points of call and the breakdown of delivery notices are known as Total Points of Call within our householder data.

Total Points of Call

The Total Points of Call provides the total counts of houses, apartments, businesses and farms.

Householder Designator Definitions

House: Is a building with one or two dwelling units. If a business is operated in a house that is also used as a dwelling, it is classified as a house.

Apartment: Is a self contained dwelling unit within a multiple unit residential building of three or more such dwelling units in which:

All the units share a common main entrance and civic address but have individual suite numbers. For the purpose of this definition, common entrance means entrance to the building or to the complex, i.e., private lane or road. For urban areas, each unit has as a separate mail receptacle, which normally forms part of a centralized mail receiving facility.

If a business is operated from an apartment which is also used as a dwelling, it is classified as an apartment.

Business: A point of call where the primary activity is commercial or industrial. If a business is operated from a house or an apartment which is also used as a dwelling, it is classified as a house or an apartment.

Farm: Dwelling or a point of call associated with a tract of land used to raise crops, animals or fish as a primary source of income or revenue. If there is any doubt, it is classified as a house.

© Canada Post Corporation, 2006.