CanMap Postal Code. Forward Sortation Area (FSA). The first three characters of a postal code represent the Forward Sortation Area (FSA) indicating a geographic area in an urban or rural area. The first character of the FSA identifies one of the 18 major geographic areas, provinces or districts.

FSA boundaries may include multi-polygon regions, for example two or more polygons forming one region/entity reflecting the complexity inherent in FSA geography. Generally, FSA boundaries conform to streets, administrative boundaries and other physical features within CanMap®® products.

For further information, review the product description files located here: \\deltafs\g\Metadata\CANMAP\Product Descriptions