Civic Number vs. Street Number in Canadian Addresses
A subtle distinction that can cause confusion (especially to newcomers and non-native English speakers)
In colloquial Canadian English, there is a misnomer about Canadian addresses that may confuse tourists, newcomers, and immigrants. (To my American colleagues: Please tell me if this applies to your common conversational norms, too.)
Suppose that your address is
602 East 87th Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
V9M 3X5
There are various components to a Canadian address:
- the street name ("East 87th Avenue")
- the city ("Vancouver")
- the province ("British Columbia")
- the postal code ("V9M 3X5")
What do you call "602"?
Many people call this the "street number". However, that is evidently the wrong term. The street is "East 87th Avenue", and it happens to be a numbered street. Thus, if any component of that address deserves the term "street number", it should be "87th"!
I am especially mindful of how newcomers to Canada and non-native English speakers would interpret the term “street number”. Here is a discussion thread that highlights this confusion.
When, then, should you call "602"?
Canada Post is the Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in my country. According to Canada Post’s website, “602” is the civic number.
Until a few years ago, I had never heard of the term “civic number”. If I ask my fellow Canadians, I suspect that most of them would not know what this means, either.
However, this is definitely better than "street number". In that example, the number "602" denotes the dwelling (whether it is a house, an apartment building, an office building, a school, or any other structure in which people live or work). It is clearly NOT denoting a street.
For the sake of clarity, let's start using the term "civic number". This is the correct term as set by the main postal agency in Canada, and it is also more clear and sensible. For newcomers and non-native speakers of English, “civic number” (and its distinction from “street number”) would make it much easier to understand how addresses work.