What Is the Postal Code Format of Canada?

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Unlike most countries in the world which uses numbers exclusively in their postal code formats, Canada uses a 6-character alphanumeric format:

A1B 2C3

The first alphabet in a Canadian postal code (highlighted red in the example above) usually signify the province or territory where it is located. Currently, there are 18 of such alphabets in use, which we'll explore below.

What Is the Postal Code Format of Canada?
Illustration by Denelson83 (Public Domain)

K, L, M, N, P for the Province of Ontario

Ontario is Canada’s most populated province with over 14 million residents.

So it makes sense that it's the only province with 5 postal district codes (all others have only one, except for Québec).

Here are the 5 postal district codes in Ontario:

  • Postal codes that begin with K are for the City of Ottawa in the Province of Ontario. For example: K4L5M6

  • Postal codes that begin with M are for the City of Toronto. For example: M7N8P9

  • The rest of the province outside these two cities have postal codes that begin with L, N, and P

G, H, J for the Province of Québec

The next province with the highest population after Ontario is Québec, with over 8 million residents.

It has 3 postal district codes: G, H, and J.

V for the Province of British Columbia

Aside from Ontario and Québec, each of all the other Canadian provinces only has one postal district code.

For instance, the province of British Columbia with over 5 million residents shares only one postal district code throughout the entire province: V.

R, S, T for the 3 Prairie Provinces

If you’re new to Canada, you might want to familiarize yourself with the term prairies.

Prairies, or the Canadian Prairies, mainly refer to the three prairie provinces: Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Here are their postal district codes:

  • Alberta, with over 4.5 million residents, has a postal district code of T.
  • Manitoba, with over 1.3 million residents, has a postal district code of R.
  • Saskatchewan, with over 1.2 million residents, has a postal district code of S.

A, B, C, E for the 4 Atlantic Provinces

Atlantic Canada consists of 4 provinces in the East Coast of the country: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Prince Edward Island. Here are their postal district codes:

  • Nova Scotia, with over 950,000 residents, has a postal district code of B.
  • New Brunswick, with over 750,000 residents, has a postal district code of E.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador, with over 500,000 residents, has a postal district code of A.
  • Prince Edward Island, with over 170,000 residents, has a postal district code of C.

X and Y for the 3 Canadian Territories

Canadian territories are administratively different from Canadian provinces because they do not have a local “provincial” government. They only exercise delegated powers from the federal government of Canada.

The 3 Canadian territories are the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut.

Both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut share one single postal district code: X. The Northwest Territories has a population of over 45,000 residents, while Nunavut has approximately 37,000 residents.

Yukon, with a population of around 44,000, has a postal district code of Y.

More on Canadian Addresses

  1. What Is the Address Format of Canada?
  2. What Is the Postal Code Format of Canada