Canadian Province and Territory Abbreviations
26 abbreviations · part of Geography & Place Abbreviations
Canada's 10 provinces and three territories each have a two-letter symbol set by Canada Post, written in capitals without periods between the municipality and the six-character postal code (Ottawa ON K1A 0B6). Newspapers following Canadian Press style use traditional forms such as Ont., Que. and B.C. after city names, and some older two-letter forms such as PQ and NF have been replaced. The first letter of every postal code also identifies the province or territory.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AB | Alberta | Prairie province that joined Confederation on September 1, 1905, together with Saskatchewan. |
| Alta. | Alberta | Traditional abbreviation of Alberta used by Canadian Press after city names (LETHBRIDGE, Alta.), in older documents and in some company names. |
| BC | British Columbia | Canada's westernmost province, which joined Confederation on July 20, 1871, on the promise of a transcontinental railway. |
| FSA | Forward sortation area | First three characters of a Canadian postal code, letter-digit-letter, as in K1A. |
| LDU | Local delivery unit | Last three characters of a Canadian postal code, digit-letter-digit, as in the 0B1 of K1A 0B1. |
| Man. | Manitoba | Canadian Press and traditional abbreviation of Manitoba, written after a city name in news copy, as in BRANDON, Man. |
| MB | Manitoba | Prairie province that entered Confederation on July 15, 1870, after the Red River Resistance led by Louis Riel. |
| NB | New Brunswick | Maritime province and one of the four founding members of Confederation in 1867, and the only province that is officially bilingual in English and French under its… |
| NF | Newfoundland | Former postal symbol for Newfoundland, replaced by NL after the province was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001. |
| Nfld. | Newfoundland | Long-standing abbreviation of Newfoundland, used for the island and, before 2001, for the whole province. |
| NL | Newfoundland and Labrador | Easternmost province, made up of the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador, which joined Canada on March 31, 1949, the last province to do so. |
| NS | Nova Scotia | Maritime province on a peninsula and Cape Breton Island, a founding member of Confederation in 1867. |
| NT | Northwest Territories | Northern territory of about 45,000 people with Yellowknife as its capital, which recognizes 11 official languages, more than any other Canadian jurisdiction. |
| NU | Nunavut | Canada's newest and largest territory, created on April 1, 1999, from the eastern Northwest Territories as a homeland for Inuit, who make up most of its roughly 40,000… |
| NWT | Northwest Territories | Common abbreviation of the Northwest Territories, written N.W.T. in Canadian news style and NWT in government and tourism use. |
| ON | Ontario | Canada's most populous province, with more than 15 million people, home to both Toronto, the provincial capital and largest city, and Ottawa, the national capital. |
| Ont. | Ontario | Traditional abbreviation of Ontario used in Canadian Press datelines (WINDSOR, Ont.), government publications, older maps and many business directories. |
| PE | Prince Edward Island | Smallest province by both area and population, joined to the mainland since 1997 by the 12.9-kilometre Confederation Bridge. |
| PEI | Prince Edward Island | Usual written and spoken short form of Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province, used everywhere from tourism ads to government names (Health PEI). |
| PQ | Province of Quebec | Former postal and common abbreviation for Quebec, standing for Province de Québec. |
| QC | Quebec | Largest province by area and the only one with French as its sole official language, home to about 8.9 million people. |
| Que. | Quebec | Canadian Press abbreviation for Quebec after city names, as in GATINEAU, Que., also found in older English-language directories and government documents. |
| Sask. | Saskatchewan | Traditional abbreviation of Saskatchewan used by Canadian Press after city names (PRINCE ALBERT, Sask.) and in older documents, sports agate and business names. |
| SK | Saskatchewan | Prairie province that joined Confederation on September 1, 1905, alongside Alberta. |
| YK | Yukon | Informal abbreviation for Yukon seen in casual writing, tourism listings and older records, but not an official Canada Post symbol; the correct postal code is YT. |
| YT | Yukon | Northwestern territory created in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, with Whitehorse as its capital and about 45,000 residents. |
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