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Canada Post's mail redirection (Mail Forwarding) sends mail addressed to your old address on to your new one for a set term you choose, renewable if you need more time. Set it up online or at a post office before you move. It covers most lettermail, but not everything: some government mail and parcels play by different rules.
File the request before moving day if you can: redirection needs time to activate across the system, and mail sent in the gap can still land at the old place. You can set it up online or at any post office. It covers a named individual or a whole household, and businesses get their own version. The term runs for a fixed period you select, and you can renew it. Think of it as a safety net while you update your address with everyone, not as a permanent solution.
| Mail type | Does it redirect? |
|---|---|
| Regular lettermail to your name at the old address | Yes, the core case |
| Parcels | Usually, but some parcel products and oversized items have their own rules |
| Government cheques and some official mail | Often not: some senders block forwarding for security, so update them directly |
| Mail addressed to the previous occupant | No: redirection follows your name, not the address itself |
| Flyers and unaddressed admail | No: it's not addressed to you, so there's nothing to redirect |
Redirected mail arrives with a forwarding label stuck on it, which is actually useful information: every stickered letter is a sender you forgot to update. Keep a running list from the stickers during your first month at the new place and work through it: banks, insurers, subscriptions, government programs. The senders who block forwarding are the dangerous ones, because their mail neither redirects nor bounces back to them visibly; it just doesn't arrive. Government benefits, tax slips, and anything with a cheque are worth updating directly even if you have redirection running.
When the term ends, mail to your old address stops being forwarded. If the old address has new occupants, your mail may be returned to sender or, worse, opened by strangers. Renew before expiry if you're still getting stickered mail regularly: that's the system telling you your address updates aren't done. And if you're moving again, set up a fresh redirection from the new old address; forwarding doesn't chain automatically through multiple moves.
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