Talk:Canadian postal code

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Contents

Please condense the many letters which don't begin any, or begin very few, postal codes; there should only be about 10 different links from this page to subsidiary pages. Ex: A, B-D, E-G, ... +sj+ 22:38, 2004 Mar 20 (UTC)

I have actually undertaken to convert all Canadian postal code pages into tabular form. Denelson83 09:25, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] List of postal codes in Canada → Canadian postal code

I have edited this article quite a bit to make it more than just a list. It describes how Canadian postal codes work in much detail now, so I do not believe it should be a "List of..." article anymore. Denelson83 19:10, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

SUPPORT: I support moving the content of the current article to Canadian postal code (Is there a formal name for the system like how we have ZIP Code in the USA??? If so, move content there. If not, Canadian postal code it is.) but given that there are several "list of __(insert country or state here)__ postal codes" articles it is a must that someone restore the the List of postal codes in Canada to actually being a list of Canadian postal codes. —ExplorerCDT 05:01, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It really is not necessary to have such an article, as the list is already split into separate lists by the first letter of the postal code. Having them all in one article would make it way too big. And besides, there are already links to those individual lists in this article, below the postal district map. The point here is that there is enough information in this article that the "List of"-type title is no longer necessary.
And yes, we Canadians just call it a "postal code," simply sticking the word "Canadian" in front of it to disambiguate. Denelson83 05:16, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)
  • Comment: Normally, I would say that effort is sufficient, but the List of postal codes in Canada article is linked from other sites, so, it might be necessary to copy a list linking to the lists by letter? (that sounds redundant, I know). I think this is necessary only because of the linking. As to the name "Postal code" I wasn't too familiar with that part of Canadiana, as most of the websites group the Canadian postal code in with the American ZIP code and mistakenly (or inadvertantly) make people think the Canadians use a system called ZIP too. —ExplorerCDT 03:52, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Right now there's a list of links under the map image. An actual directory of code numbers isn't as encyclopedic as the article itself. So I would suggest moving the article to preserve its edit history. Then, the new redirect page at List of postal codes in Canada can be changed into a brief directory page to capture those incoming links, and points to the main article as well as having the map and list of links. —Michael Z. 2005-02-2 20:46 Z
What exactly do you mean by "sites"? As in just other pages within Wikipedia, or from external websites? Denelson83 19:10, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Support —Michael Z. 2005-01-31 15:41 Z

  • Support - more concise than old; but either Canadian postal codes or Canadian post codes would be better.--Daeron 07:09, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)
    • We call them "postal codes" in Canada, never "post codes", which are used in the U.K. And I think the convention on article titles is to use the singular, so it should be "Canadian postal code". Denelson83 19:01, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] H0H 0H0

Santa Claus Editorial comment: Canada Post's online reverse postal code lookup doesn't return a result for H0H 0H0. (Postal code data effective 2006/02/20) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Robocoder (talk • contribs) 02:08, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

That's because it's a 'reserved' code, not allocated to any location. Besides, letters addressed to Santa Claus are answered by the first Canada Post employee they reach, and they don't touch the automated sorting equipment at all.  Denelson83  21:28, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
I'd be interested to see further reading as to the popularity or obscurity of the Canadian address for Santa Claus outside of Canada. BigNate37T·C 02:32, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure if this link answers your question, but it does indeed state that mail does come in to the H0H 0H0 postal code from outside of Canada. [1] --  Denelson83  03:28, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, it was something. I'm curious whether most, say, Americans, Brits, Slavs and so forth have even heard of it, and whether they acknoledge that Santa lives in Canada or not. At any rate, the link was a good read for a bit more information. Thanks. BigNate37T·C 03:43, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
I'd hesitate to say that H0H letters are assigned to "the first Canada Post employee they reach", but they are processed in multiple locations across Canada as Saint Nick does get an enormous quantity of seasonal mail. Perhaps the anycast concept would be the closest analogy as H0H seasonal mail goes to multiple disparite handling facilities?
There may be other addresses in the US which have seasonal uses (although not "seasonal/reserved" per se), such as North Pole, Alaska or North Pole, New York; at one point, apparently it was not uncommon to ship a box of outbound Christmas cards to the North Pole postmaster and ask that they be sent onward with that locality's postmark? Nonetheless, much like Wonder Woman is obviously American, Santa must be a Canadian eh?... why else would he dress in the colours of the Canadian flag? :) --carlb 21:55, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] H0A

A search for H0A finds four pages of results to indicate that there were a few of these codes (H0A 1E0, H0A 1G0) assigned to Laval, Quebec at one point. A reverse-lookup on these at canadapost.ca fails despite HOA, HOM both being listed in Canada Post's current list of FSA's; does this mean the H0A codes existed but have since been retired?

As for H0H? As it's reserved for seasonal use, it's not on that list. --carlb 21:44, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Good Article Review

From What is a good article?:

  • Well-written - pass
    1. Compelling prose, readily comprehensible to non-specialist members - one or two bits which seem a little technical, but is comprehensible (See 4th point below)
    2. Logical structure - Yes. I reordered the History section a little to address existing issues. The rest of the article is excellent in this regard.
    3. Follows Wikipedia MoS - Yes. Uses Canadian English for Canadian article.
    4. Necessary technical terms/jargon briefly explained or active link provided - Yes. If going for FA I'd definitely look carefully at the "Forward sortation areas" section, it needs work to make it more clear. However, it meets the lower bar set for GA.
  • Factually accurate and verifiable - on hold
    1. Provides references to any and all sources used for material - see below
    2. Citation of its sources using an acceptable form of inline citation - On hold (see outstanding issues)
    3. Sources should be selected in accordance with the guidelines for reliable sources - Yes.
    4. It contains no elements of original research - Issue regarding Toronto ad and NDP MP - can't find on Google or in listed sources. Otherwise, seems to satisfy WP:OR.
  • Broad in coverage - yes
  • NPOV - yes (it handles criticism fairly)
  • Stable - yes
  • Contains images - yes contains free use image uploaded by author, which is a good illustration.

Outstanding issues as of 4 January 2007:

  • Citation of sources - please use cite web, cite news or cite book templates using <ref></ref> tags at the relevant point in the article, as has been done with the Santa Claus section. (update 9 Jan 2007 - only two to go!)
  • Original research issues - Can't find Toronto ad and NDP MP. Please find a reliable source documenting this event. Fixed.
  • Technical terms/jargon - if looking to move to FA-status later on, "Forward sortation areas" section will need looking at in this regard. Recent edits appear to have addressed this point. Good work, guys!

Once these issues (first two) are addressed I'll be happy to pass it - it's a thorough and well-researched article covering the broad range of the subject. Orderinchaos78 05:21, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA Passed

All issues fixed - congratulations. Best of luck with getting this article to the next stage! Orderinchaos78 13:18, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edits to references

Today's edit was quite extensive and a little messy if you look at the diffs, but hasn't substantially changed the content. I added a few words here and there, but mostly I added a couple of references and standardized the existing ones in the various cite template formats. I have added changed all the references to multi-line format. I hope that hasn't offended anyone, but I find that they are much more maintainable that way. It makes it easier to find them or to read around them in the source code. Also, it makes the lines shorter, so any diffs are more readable from here on.

I have more to add to the history (including refs for some of those cloaked statements), which I will do when I get more time. Canadiana 02:58, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What is the rangespace of postal codes?

Under "How many postal codes are possible?" the article states what letters aren't used. However an article about a coding system should say somewhere what the theoretical and actual (in use) ranges are. What are the lowest (eg. A0A 0A0??) and highest values possible and in use? I find it interesting that A1A 1A1 appears on so many forms and templates as a fictional address, yet it is not a fictional postal code and refers to a real location according to reverse-lookup. I'd say that merits mention in this article, although it was deleted. Canuckle 21:05, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

A1A 1A1 is no different than any other postal code. If you create an article on one postal code, then all other postal codes would have to have articles, and that does not make any sense. --  Denelson83  00:18, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
Hi thanks for posting a reply. Sorry for the delay as I hadn't flagged this page for watching. You didn't respond to my question. I didn't ask for an article dedicated to one postal code. I did that, had second thoughts, and felt it might more appropriately merit a mention on this article. I didn't even appeal when I noticed that the standalone article got deleted without my noticing. You argue that it is "no different" than any other. I think it is different. It is the postal code regularly used to demonstrate postal codes. For example, this article's fourth sentence and a graphic use K1A 0B1 as an example. It is arguably more common to see A1A 1A1 in this instance. Why can this article not withstand a single mention of something people see everyday, and which was reliably sourced? Also, as I asked above, could the article withstand mention of what the range of codes currently in use are? I checked the list of postal codes (very nice by the way) and if I read it correctly it is: A0A to Y0B. Looking forward to your feedback. It's a good article, I'm just trying to make a tiny addition. Cheers. Canuckle 21:35, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
The thing is, there is no hard and fast "range" of postal codes. What you are referring to is the start and end of the portion of the postal code "space" that is currently in use. The postal code space starts at A0A and ends at Y9Z. I use K1A 0B1 because it is more heavily-used than A1A 1A1, and it doesn't suggest the idea of infringing on the privacy of a random person (WP:BEANS). Just because lots of other people use A1A 1A1 as a postal code example doesn't mean Wikipedia should. --  Denelson83  22:38, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for adding the sentence about the "space" currently used. It helps laymen like myself. Thanks for pointing out (WP:BEANS). It's a well-written essay that I'll keep in mind. I'm not clear on how it might apply in this example. Software writers could use the information that A1A 1A1 is an actual postal code to avoid user errors (for instance, failure to replace the template postal code with your actual code could result in your Amazon purchase going to the wrong place I guess). I'm unclear on how or why a reader could use that information to harm oneself or others. Privacy can be an important concern. However, postal codes are public information that is easily available and relate to a general area. Saying that A1A 1A1 represents an area in Newfoundland is not like publishing a random phone number as in the 867-5309/Jenny debacle. How would a resident of that area's privacy be affected by this information?. The federal gov't has stricter privacy regulations that Wikipedia, and yet Parliament uses A1A 1A1 in its look-up tool to find your MP (see here). Please note that I never said "replace" the Ottawa example. I said that notable organizations like the government and www.icann.org use A1A 1A1 in a way relevant to this article. That real-world use should appropriately be noted in this article, in my opinion. Do you mind if I write up a sentence and try it in the article? Canuckle 06:31, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
You can go ahead and say in a sentence or two about how A1A 1A1 is used as an example template for a postal code, but that fact doesn't need its own article. Also, if you want to want to give your own example of a postal code, I suggest using one that starts with A9W, as codes that start with those three characters are for testing purposes only, along with A9X and A9Z. As for A1A 1A1 being used as a more widespread example, I imagine people in that postal code get slightly more than the average amount of junk mail in their boxes. --  Denelson83  06:48, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Franked mail

  • Is this the right article in which to mention the free delivery to/from MPs and others, see here? Canuckle 03:50, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
Probably better to put this in the Canada Post article. --  Denelson83  03:52, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
Thanks. I did look there but a good home wasn't immediately apparent. Canuckle 16:50, 10 July 2007 (UTC)