441-01850 (Government services and administration)

Canada Post maintains a nation-wide postal code system for the sole purpose of processing and delivering millions of pieces of mail each day as efficiently as possible. It only assigns postal codes to addresses that qualify for a prime mode of delivery. Unfortunately, issues can arise when third parties such as Google rely on Canada Post’s mailing address database and postal codes for their own purposes.

Canada Post assigns a mailing/postal address (including a postal code) for the purposes of mail delivery. The addressing authority (Municipality, Band, Province, District etc.) assigns a civic (9-1-1) address to identify a physical location. In some cases, the mailing/postal address already matches the civic (9-1-1) address, however in some areas, like Big White, it does not. Canada Post’s civic addressing program is the matching of a physical address to its mailing address. This matching gives customers one consistent address to serve both purposes and helps Canada Post improve efficiency and accuracy of mail and parcel delivery.

The addressing authority owns/assigns all civic (9-1-1) addressing information including an official place name; Canada Post owns/assigns a mailing/postal address including the postal code.

Canada Post provides each municipally-recognized address in Canada with one free method of delivery – such as door-to-door delivery, delivery to a community mailbox, delivery to a Post Office (PO) Box, or general delivery – as determined by Canada Post. Currently, the primary mode of mail delivery for residents and businesses in Big White are community mailboxes. All customers are currently using a PO box number as their mailing address. Canada Post is in contact with the municipality as it is in the process of moving from PO box numbering to civic (9-1-1) addresses for customers.

Canada Post is working on a civic addressing change for Big White customers that will include recognizing the municipality place name of “Big White Mountain” along with their 9-1-1 civic address and updated postal code. The postal code for Big White Mountain will continue to originate from the Kelowna mail processing centre, where all mail coming into the community is prepared for delivery. This civic addressing project, which includes an extensive data collection process for all addresses, continues and Canada Post is targeting its completion in the first half of 2024, barring any unforeseen delays.

In the meantime, customers are encouraged to provide both their PO box mailing address and civic address, when contracting services or ordering items online. Customers can review section 3.1.2.2. of our Addressing Guidelines to confirm how to format this addressing information. While this is not a guaranteed solution, it is an effective way of providing all of the necessary addressing information until Canada Post completes the scheduled address change.

Canada Post continues to work with Big White Resort on this matter.