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Once your USPS change-of-address forwarding ends, which is about 12 months for first-class letters, mail to your old address gets returned to sender marked "moved, left no address." The only real fix is updating your address directly with everyone who sends you paper mail: banks, the IRS or CRA, your driver's licence office, insurers, and subscriptions.
Not everything forwards for the same length of time, and some mail doesn't forward at all. The 12-month figure everyone quotes applies to first-class letters and priority mail. Other classes have shorter windows, and marketing mail generally isn't forwarded: it's discarded unless the sender paid for an ancillary endorsement.
| Mail type | Forwarding period | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First-class letters and Priority Mail | About 12 months | The standard change-of-address coverage |
| Packages (Priority, Ground) | About 12 months | Heavier items forward the same as letters |
| Periodicals and magazines | Much shorter, measured in weeks | Publishers are expected to update their lists fast |
| Marketing and standard mail | Generally not forwarded | Discarded unless endorsed otherwise |
In Canada, Canada Post's mail redirection is a paid service with its own terms, and like USPS forwarding it ends: after that, mail to the old address is returned to sender.
While forwarding is active, the sender's mail reaches you with a yellow change-of-address sticker, and the sender may get a notice of your new address. Once forwarding expires, that stops: the piece comes back to the sender endorsed "moved, left no address," with no new address attached. From the sender's perspective, you vanished.
This is how mailing lists learn you've moved, by the way. Businesses that use address correction endorsements get your new address automatically during the forwarding period. After it expires, they just get returns, which is why companies periodically purge addresses with too many returns.
Forwarding is a safety net, not a plan. Work through the list in your first month at the new address: banks and credit cards, the IRS or CRA, your state or provincial driver's licence and vehicle registration, voter registration, insurance (auto, home, health), your employer and payroll, pharmacies, subscriptions, and anyone who sends you legal or tax documents. Tax agencies in particular: a misdirected tax notice can mean missed deadlines and penalties, and "the forwarding expired" isn't a defense.
USPS also sells a premium forwarding service that bundles your mail and ships it weekly, useful if you move somewhere remote or travel long term. But even that is temporary: the permanent fix is always updating the address at the source.
No. A USPS change of address doesn't forward mail to or from Canada, and Canada Post redirection doesn't cross into the US. If you move between countries, file separately with each postal service for the domestic leg, and update every sender directly for the rest. International mail to an old address simply returns to sender.
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