#JustCurious How were postal codes in Canada decided?

Canada Post says they handle in excess of five billion pieces of domestic letter mail per year. They serve some 15 million plus homes. Our viewer, Cally, was #JustCurious why Saskatchewan’s postal codes all start with the letter S, but Alberta doesn’t start with A and Manitoba doesn’t start with M.

The Canadian postal system is based upon the U.K. model. It was established in 1868. The first Canada post office opened in Halifax in 1873.

Here’s how the postal code system in Canada works.

The first three digits are the forwarding station. The first letter does indicate the province. The next digit, a number, indicates whether the property is urban or rural. The third digit recognizes a subdivision. The back half of the postal code breaks down the local delivery unit. In short, the first three digits get it to your town, the last three to hour neighbourhood and ultimately, house.

Why is that?

History books tell us that as the country was settled, mail systems were developed, and they took a letter. In it’s most basic form, it was set up alphanumerically. Newfoundland is ‘A’ and as you expand west, areas took letters. It could just be a happy coincidence that Saskatchewan ended up with ‘S’ but it does not stand for Saskatchewan.