Canadian Postal Code
A 6-character alphanumeric code defined and maintained by Canada Post Corporation for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail.
Defined based on Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and Local Delivery Unit (LDU). The Postal Code is a uniformly structured, in the form “ANA NAN” where “A” is an alphabetic character and “N” is a numeric character.
Attributes
| Attribute | Type | Multiplicity | Attribute note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Postal Code Value | String | 1 | The value of a postal code, e.g., "1AB2C3" (not a real code). |
| Canadian Postal Code Type Code | Codeable Concept | 0..1 | Uniquely specifies the type of addresses used to identify the points of call served by the postal code.
Value Set: https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/doc/en/marketing/postal-code-conversion-file-reference-guide.pdf |
| Canadian Postal Code Latitude | Decimal | 0..1 | The geographic latitude of a postal code. |
| Canadian Postal Code Longitude | Decimal | 0..1 | The geographic longitude of a postal code. |
| Canadian Postal Code Birth Date | Date | 0..1 | The approximate date when the postal code became effective. All postal codes created before April 1983 were given a birth date of ‘19830401’. |
| Canadian Postal Code Retired Date | Date | 0..1 | The approximate date when a postal code was retired. All postal codes retired before April 1983 have ‘19830401’ as the retirement date. Some postal codes have been retired and reintroduced at a later date. Active postal codes have a retirement date of ‘19000001’. |
Relationships
| From class | From multiplicity | Relationship | To class | To multiplicity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Address | 0..* | has (aggregation) | Canadian Postal Code | 0..1 |
| Province Or Territory Forward Sortation Area | 1 | has | Canadian Postal Code | 1..* |
| Dissemination Area | 1 | has | Canadian Postal Code | 1..* |
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How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Canadian Postal Code. Accessed November 02, 2026.
