Addressing Guidelines

1	What’s In This Chapter

The following sections are covered in this chapter:

2

Overview

Canada Post’s computerized systems can decipher a wide range of addressing styles – from handwritten notation to typed and printed labels, but studies show that a consistent approach to mail addressing leads to more efficient handling. For Canada Post’s Customers, large and small, this translates into better service and lower costs. Consistent and accurate addressing eliminates the need for extra handling or redelivery by Canada Post. Standardized addressing helps ensure that mail is consistently “delivered on time, the first time, every time.”

The guidelines in this chapter promote the most technologically efficient formats for addressing. It does not limit mailers to any one format. In some cases, because of individual preference or other considerations, mailers may not be able to follow these formats.

Visit www.canadapost.ca/postalstandards for more technical information on the physical characteristics necessary for effective processing by Canada Post’s automated systems.

3

General Information

To avoid unnecessary delays to your mail items, follow these addressing guidelines:

• addresses should be written in upper case, however mailers may wish to use lower case due to individual preference or other considerations
• postal codes should be printed in upper case with the first three elements separated from the last three by one space (no hyphens; if the postal code is not formatted in this manner, the mail may be delayed)
• the municipality, province or territory, and postal code should always appear on the same line and there should be one space between the municipality, province or territory and two spaces between the province or territory and postal code
• characters in the address block should not be underlined
• punctuation should not be used unless it is part of a proper name, such as in “ST. JOHN’S”, but mailers may wish to use punctuation due to individual preference or other considerations
• accents may be used as they are an integral part of language but they are not considered to be punctuation
• the # symbol should never be used, nor the French equivalent n^o as part of the address
• all lines of an address should be formatted with a uniform left margin and should be less than 40 characters per line, excluding spaces
• space between address lines should be at least 0.5 mm but no more than one blank line between lines of addressing
• all characters should be larger than 2 mm and smaller than 5 mm from the top to bottom (10 to 12-point) whereas return addresses may use smaller characters and should not be larger than the destination address
• only non-proportional fonts (characters which occupy the same width) should be used, such as the following examples:

• OCR B
• Letter Gothic
• Elite
• Lotus Line-Draw and MS Line Draw
• Courier and Courier New
• Pica and Copy Pica

• return addresses should be formatted in the same fashion as the destination address, and located in the top-left corner of the item, clearly separated from the destination address, or on the back of the item at the top

4

Illustrations

The following sections illustrate Canada Post’s recommended addressing guidelines.

4.1	Civic Addresses (Street Addresses)

Figure 1: Civic Addresses (Street Addresses)

1. Additional delivery information is optional data that a mailer wishes to include. (title, floor, etc.) It is always placed above the civic address.
2. A unit number is placed before the civic number with a hyphen between, OR after the street type, using an acceptable unit identifier (ex. APT 10). See Table 3: “Unit Designators” for a complete list. The unit information may be placed on the line above the street information if space is an issue.

3. The civic number is the official number assigned to an address by the municipality.

4. When a civic number suffix is present, there is no space when it is alpha (123A), and there is one space when it is a fraction (123 1/2).

5. The street name is the official name recognized by each municipality and should not be translated. (Ex.: Main is not Principale.) There is no space between a numerical street name with an ordinal or an alphanumeric character. (Ex.: 2ND ST or 36A ST). When the street name is numeric, there is only one space (no hyphen) between the civic number and the street name. (Ex.: 123 22ND AVE).

6. The street type is provided by the municipality. Common abbreviations should be used. See Table 1: “Street Type” for a complete list. In some instances, the street type is also the street name (THE PARKWAY). The only street types that may be translated are:

7. The street direction uses the common one- or two-letter abbreviation. See Table 2: “Street Directions” for a complete list.

8. The official municipality name, as provided to Canada Post, the official abbreviation of the municipality, or an official alternate name, should be used and should not be translated. (Ex.: TROIS-RIVIÈRES is not THREE RIVERS.)

9. The province should always be presented using the recognized two-letter symbol. See Table 4: “Canadian Provinces and Territories Names and Abbreviations” for a complete list. Mailers may wish to have the province written in full and placed in brackets. Ex.: (Québec)

10. The postal code should be in upper case and placed two spaces to the right of the province with one space between the first three and last three characters.

4.2	Post Office Box Addresses

Figure 2: Post Office Box Addresses

1. Additional delivery information is optional data that a mailer wishes to include. (title, floor, municipal address, etc.) It is always placed above the post office box address.
2. The post office box number should always be placed on the line just above the municipality, province and postal code. The # symbol should not be used, nor the French equivalent n^o. Punctuation should not be used.

3. Station information should be present to direct mail to the proper postal installation when there is more than one installation within a municipality.

4. The official municipality name, as provided to Canada Post, the official abbreviation of the municipality, or an official alternate name, should be used and should not be translated. (Ex.: TROIS-RIVIÈRES is not THREE RIVERS.)

5. The province should always be presented using the recognized two-letter symbol. See Table 4: “Canadian Provinces and Territories Names and Abbreviations” for a complete list. Mailers may wish to have the province written in full and placed in brackets. Ex.: (Québec)

6. The postal code should be in upper case and placed two spaces to the right of the province with one space between the first three and last three characters.

4.3	Rural Route Addresses

Figure 3: Rural Route Addresses

1. Many rural areas now have civic addresses. Civic addresses may be added above the rural route. In some locations, the rural route (RR) designator is no longer required.
2. Additional address information is often required for delivery to this type of address. Some examples include: SITE/ COMPARTMENT, LOT/CONCESSION, civic address, attention line, title, floor. The word “BOX” should not be used in place of “COMPARTMENT”.

3. The rural route identifier should use the two-letter symbol (RR, SS, MR), followed by the number, one space to the right. The # symbol should not be used, nor the French equivalent, n^o. Punctuation should not be used in RR, SS, or MR.

4. Station information should be present to direct mail to the proper postal installation when there is more than one installation within a municipality.

5. The official municipality name, as provided to Canada Post, the official abbreviation of the municipality, or an official alternate name, should be used and should not be translated. (Ex.: TROIS-RIVIÈRES is not THREE RIVERS.)

6. The province should always be presented using the recognized two-letter symbol. See Table 4: “Canadian Provinces and Territories Names and Abbreviations” for a complete list. Mailers may wish to have the province written in full and placed in brackets. Ex.: (Québec)

7. The postal code should be in upper case and placed two spaces to the right of the province with one space between the first three and last three characters.

4.4	General Delivery Addresses

Figure 4: General Delivery Addresses

1. The General Delivery indicator should be the two-letter abbreviation “GD.” Punctuation should not be used.
2. Station information should be present to direct mail to the proper postal installation when there is more than one installation within a municipality.

3. The official municipality name, as provided to Canada Post, the official abbreviation of the municipality, or an official alternate name, should be used and should not be translated. (Ex.: TROIS-RIVIÈRES is not THREE RIVERS.)

4. The province should always be presented using the recognized two-letter symbol. See Table 4: “Canadian Provinces and Territories Names and Abbreviations” for a complete list. Mailers may wish to have the province written in full and placed in brackets. Ex.: (Québec)

5. The postal code should be in upper case and placed two spaces to the right of the province with one space between the first three and last three characters.

4.5	Bilingual Addresses

Figure 5: Bilingual Addresses

1. A solid black line must be placed between the two addresses. It must be a minimum of 0.7 mm thick.
2. There must be a clear space on each side of the black line. This clear space should be approximately 10 mm.

4.6	Military Addresses

Military addressing is defined as mail sent to or by the Department of National Defence, Canadian Forces personnel, their dependants and civilians attached to Canadian Forces served through Canadian Forces Post Offices and Fleet Mail Offices. See the chapter “Canadian Forces Postal Service” for more information.

4.7	United States of America Addresses

Addressing elements required by the United States Postal Service should be prepared according to the United States postal standards.

Figure 6: United States of America Addresses

1. All U.S.A. mail items must be addressed to a specific individual, organization or company name.
2. The full municipality name should be used and should appear as the first component in the second last line of the address block.

3. The two-letter state symbol is preferred over the full state name. The state symbol should appear on the second last line of the address following the municipality, separated by one space. See Table 5: “States, Territories and Possessions Names and Abbreviations U.S.A.” for a complete list.

4. The ZIP code must be separated from the state symbol by two spaces. It may be either five or nine digits. If the nine-digit format is used, a hyphen will be used to separate the fifth and sixth digits.

5. The country name should appear alone on the last line of the address block.

4.8	International Addresses

Figure 7: International Addresses

All international mail items must be addressed to a specific individual, organization or company name. Also, to ensure proper processing, the country name must be spelled correctly and in full. (Ex.: UAE is not acceptable for UNITED ARAB EMIRATES).

The name of the country must be the last entry on the address. It is placed at the bottom, below the municipality/city name and any postal code/ZIP code information.

4.9	International Destination Names

See “Part H: International Destination Listing” for a complete list of international destination names.

5

Symbols and Abbreviations Recognized by Canada Post

5.1	Street Types

5.2	Street Directions

5.3	Unit Designators

The following are the most technologically efficient unit designators. In some cases, because of individual preference or other considerations, a mailer may use other unit designators.

5.4	Canadian Provinces and Territories

5.5	States, Territories and Possessions – U.S.A.

6

Postal Code

The postal code is an integral part of every postal address in Canada. The postal code was designed to aid in sorting mail by both mechanized and manual methods. It also enables the Customer to presort mail, thereby bypassing a number of sorting processes within Canada Post and reducing costs.

6.1	The Structure of the Postal Code

The postal code is a six-character uniformly structured, alphanumeric code in the form “ANA NAN” where “A” represents an alphabetic character and “N” represents a numeric character. A postal code is made up of two segments: “forward sortation area” and “local delivery unit.”

The forward sortation area is a combination of three characters (alpha-numeric-alpha). It identifies a major geographic area in an urban or a rural location.

The local delivery unit is a combination of three characters (numeric-alpha-numeric). It identifies the smallest delivery unit within a forward sortation area.

Figure 8: Postal Code Structure

6.2	Forward Sortation Area – The First Segment of the Postal Code

The “forward sortation area” or “FSA” represents a specific area within a major geographic region or province. The forward sortation area provides the basis for the primary sorting of forward mail.

The first character of the forward sortation area segment identifies one of the 18 major geographic areas, provinces or districts (as shown in Figure 9).

Figure 9: First Segment of the Postal Code

The second character of the forward sortation area is an important component of mail preparation as it identifies either:

• an urban postal code: numerals 1 to 9 (E2J). Urban postal codes are generally serviced by Letter Carrier or community mailboxes; or
• a rural postal code: numeral 0 (zero) (A0A). Rural postal codes are serviced by rural route drivers and/or post offices.

The third character of the forward sortation area segment (E2J) in conjunction with the first two characters, describes an exact area of a city or town or other geographic area.

Figure 10: Example FSA

6.3	Local Delivery Unit – The Second Segment of the Postal Code

The “local delivery unit” or “LDU”, identified by the last three characters of the postal code, allows for a more final sort within a forward sortation area.

In urban areas, the last three digits may indicate a specific city block (one side of a street between two intersecting streets), a single building or, in some cases, a large-volume mail receiver.

In rural areas, the last three digits, together with the forward sortation area, identify a specific rural community.

6.4	Postal Code Address Data

Canada Post’s Postal Code Address data is used to determine or verify the correct postal code for an address anywhere in Canada or identify the complete range of addresses that correspond to any one postal code. The data is available under licence by download from a secured Canada Post FTP site and on CD-ROM. The updates are distributed monthly.

Delivery Mode data and various types of Householder counts are also available. Visit
www.canadapost.ca/offerings/address_management/can/other_data-e.asp for additional information on postal code data.

6.5	Canadian Postal Code Searching Tools

The Canadian Postal Code Directory© contains postal code information for all addresses in Canada. It facilitates postal code look-up and verification.

The Canadian Postal Code Directory can be purchased in hard copy through the National Philatelic Centre at 1-800-565-4362, or at selected post offices.

Visit www.canadapost.ca/tools/pcl/bin/advanced-e.asp to use Canada Post’s free postal code look-up tool.

Postal codes can also be obtained by calling 1-900-565-2633 for service in English or 1-900-565-2634 for service in French.

^©Canada Post Corporation, 2007

7

Address Accuracy Program

Customers should refer to their Addressed Admail, Catalogue Mail, Incentive Lettermail or Publications Mail Customer Guide at www.canadapost.ca/customerguides for information on the Address Accuracy Program.

8

Address Validation, Address Correction and Postal Code Look-Up

Canada Post recognizes several software packages that provide mailers with automated means to perform address validation, address correction and postal code look-up.

9

Recognized Addressing Software

Visit the Software Evaluation and Recognition Program at: www.canadapost.ca/offerings/address_management/pdf/serp-e.pdf for a list of recognized addressing software.

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