Canada Post Address Verification

Address Verification is quintessential for running a successful direct mail campaign for your business, and this much has always been clear. However, the truth is that many companies still overlook the need for an advanced address verification tool for their business. Some businesses believe that they can push through their direct mail address verification needs by using stock solutions from the postal service providers, while some others wrongly think that spending money on advanced address verification tools is a waste of money.

Neither of the people mentioned above is right because when considered from an ROI or Return on Investment perspective, address verification tools enable you to save money by increasing your deliverability rate by as much as 99%. Furthermore, many postal services do not offer an address verification capability and the ones that do have limited capabilities that simply can not satisfy Address Verification requirements for businesses.

However, such stock solutions may work exceptionally well for individual address verification needs. When it comes to Address Verification in Canada, the first place businesses often turn to is the Canada Post, which makes sense considering that Canada Post is the country’s official postal service provider and has access to the most authoritative address database in the country.

But does Canada Post provide such an address verification service to businesses? And if they do, what are the capabilities that it can offer your business? Finally, how is it different from advanced address verification tools like PostGrid, which comes certified by SERP or Software Evaluation and Recognition Program from Canada Post?

This article aims to give you a detailed comparison between Canada Post address verification and PostGrid address verification, which is one of the leading SERP-certified address verification service providers. Furthermore, we also take a look at how the Canada Post Autocomplete feature is different from PostGrid Address Autocomplete.

We also take a look at some of the more advanced features offered by third-party address verification providers like PostGrid, which includes geocoding capabilities. The article will give you a comprehensive idea of address verification services provided by Canada Post and third-party service providers like PostGrid so that you can decide which one works best for your business.

We have already mentioned the importance of SERP or Software Evaluation and Recognition Program certification for an address verification service provider that verifies addresses inside Canada. The third-party vendor is assessed on their ability to process an address or batch of addresses. For a third-party vendor to be certified by the SERP, it must be able to identify different aspects of the given address or addresses.

Firstly the software must be able to tell whether an address is a valid one according to the official address database of Canada post. Secondly, the third-party software must be able to identify addresses that are found to be invalid but can be fixed. Lastly, the vendor must also be able to identify addresses that are invalid and can not be fixed.

In addition to all this, the SERP-certified vendors must be able to produce a statement of accuracy that states the accuracy score of the batch of addresses it processed. This statement for accuracy and its score is further used while placing different direct mails. Therefore, as long as a vendor comes with SERP certification, you have nothing to worry about as there is no question about their reliability.

AddressComplete is basically an international address finder that allows you to type in an address and find a match for it in the official address database maintained by the Canada Post. The AddressComplete form Canada Post is very similar to the address autocomplete feature you often encounter in eCommerce websites.

Canada Post’s AddressComplete even comes equipped with a drag-and-drop feature and advanced search methods, which allows it to be a superior international address finder. Additionally, the AddressComplete enables you to carry out intelligent and rapid searches. This ultimately enables you to find the most accurate and relevant result for the address you feed to the system.

Autocomplete Address as You Type

As the name suggests, the AddressComplete feature from Canada Post completes the address you type into the system by suggesting the potential address. The address suggestion pops up even as you type in the address, and this enables you to find the address you are searching for. Furthermore, this feature can be implemented on your website, which can then be used for accurate data collection.

Works For Addresses Around The Globe

Another added advantage of using Canada Post’s AddressComplete is that it lets you search for addresses all around the globe. This means that you can type in any address, and the system will automatically detect the user’s country and conduct an address lookup based on that data. You can even choose the country you want to search by selecting the flag at the bottom right of the tool.

Easy Address Verification Setup

The AddressComplete feature from Canada Post is easy to use and very easy to set up as well. In a way, the AddressComplete from Canada Post is the easiest way for you to conduct an address verification, although it is not in its conventional form. Here, the system checks whether the address exists on its official addressed database, effectively validating the said address. However, businesses can’t afford to type in every address like this as they send out direct mail in bulk to prospects.

Get Greater Insights

The AddressComplete from Canada Post further provides you with great insights through reports that you can access through your dashboard. The dashboard allows you to carry out numerous actions such as manage your account settings, payments methods, even set usage restrictions. If you want, you can even customize your installations to better suit your unique business needs.

How to Use AddressComplete for Your Business?

Although AddressComplete can be considered an address verification tool, it can not be exclusively used for that purpose like the way we use third-party vendors such as PostGrid. This is mainly due to the fact that businesses often require bulk address verification capabilities, and it is impractical to type in each address one by one and check their validity.

However, you can use Canada Post’s AddressComplete for various other purposes. Some of the major applications of AddressComplete include online registration forms, eCommerce checkouts, and custom office applications. This will ensure that you have accurate data and make it highly convenient for the user to provide the needed data, ultimately boosting your conversions.

PostGrid address verification is an advanced address verification that comes equipped with many features that can help you optimize direct mail campaigns like never before. As we have briefly said before, third-party address verification tools like Postgrid are geared towards businesses, and hence they are equipped with features that can complement their goals.

Access Canada Post’s Official Address Database

PostGrid is a service provider whose advanced address verification software is certified by SERP. This means PostGrid can access the official address database of Canada Post. The address database maintained by Canada Post is the official address database of the country and is considered the most reliable one you can possibly get access to.

Canada Post themselves use the same database for their postal mail deliveries, and hence it is updated regularly for new and changed addresses. Furthermore, the address verification process carried out by PostGrid takes place in different stages throughout which the given addresses are parsed and standardized.

Bulk Address Verification Capability

An important address verification capability of PostGrid that makes it stand out from the rest and makes it ideal for businesses is its bulk address verification capability. The bulk address verification capability of PostGrid is considered superior even among third-party vendors that offer similar services and capabilities. So, what is the reason behind this?

The reason is that you can bulk verify addresses by uploading a single CSV file that contains all the addresses you want to get verified. Many other systems still use a copy-paste approach for address verification which can take forever if your database is relatively large. The bulk verification using CSV files makes the whole operation easier for your business and saves you valuable time and effort.

Direct Mail Automation Capability

PostGrid is not merely an address verification tool. It offers a holistic solution to your direct mail requirements. You can easily automate the entire direct mail process using PostGrid’s system. This means once you have verified your addresses to be real and deliverable by Canada Post, you can have your direct mail sent to them from the same system with just the click of a button.

The direct mail automation offered by PostGrid is superior in every way. Not only can you validate your addresses, but you can also personalize your emails using PostGrid. The personalized mail can then be printed by PostGrid’s trusted print partners, who are certified to print top-quality postal mails. The direct mails can even be automated to be sent at the time or date you wish them to be sent.

While Canada Post does not have a dedicated address verification process, PostGrid has an advanced address verification process that can get you the best possible results. The address verification process of PostGrid can even correct minor mistakes in the addresses that you provide to the system. To effectively carry out the address verification process, PostGrid carries out standardization and parsing processes.

Address parsing is merely the process of splitting or segmenting the given address into smaller components such as house number, street name, city, and so on. This allows for an easy address verification process. Furthermore, the parsing process helps you conduct more accurate address verification and even allows you to correct typos or minor mistakes in your provided address.

It is worth noting that different address parsing processes have different levels of accuracy, and PostGrid offers one of the best address parsing accuracies in the industry. Furthermore, the quality of the address parsing process will also, by extension, affect the quality of your address standardization and verification processes. Using an advanced system like PostGrid minimizes the risk of error in your address verification process.

Geocoding is an advanced capability that businesses are not yet fully familiar with. The process of geocoding converts the given address or location to geocodes or latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. These lat-long coordinates or geocodes can then be used to play the location onto a map to get a more comprehensive idea of your target audience.

Geocoding is often carried out through dedicated geocoding APIs, which are specifically designed for this purpose. Even though services like Google and Bing do offer geocoding capabilities, they are typically considered unreliable for business applications. So, when an address verification API like PostGrid offers the feature on top of advanced address validation, you have practically won the lottery.

PostGrid can provide your business with the geocodes of the addresses verified through its API upon request. This means not only can you validate the address but also get them plotted onto a map for better marketing prospects. The geocodes of the location can reveal invaluable information about the locality and demographics, which in the hands of talented marketers can turn into a goldmine of opportunities.

The purpose of address verification for businesses is ultimately to determine whether direct mail is deliverable or not by Canada Post. Perhaps, understanding what sort of mail won’t be delivered by the Canada Post is more important than knowing which ones can be delivered. Undeliverable mail is pretty much any postal mail that for any reason can not be delivered to its addressed recipient. Below we discuss some of the common instances where mail is classified as undeliverable by Canada Post.

Incomplete or Invalid Address

If the address given in the direct mail is incorrect or if it is invalid, or if the given address is not found in the official address database kept by the Canada Post, then it is treated as undeliverable mail.

Non-Existent Address

If the address you have written on a direct mail is non-existent, perhaps of a building that was demolished long ago, then the address is termed as undeliverable.

Addressee Moved Without a Mail Forwarding Request

If the addressee of your postal mail has moved to a new place without putting a mail forward request or the request has expired, then the mail is classified as undeliverable.

Addressee Refuse to Accept

The recipient or addressee of the mail always has the right to refuse to receive mail from the postal service, and if he/she chose to do so, then the mail is considered undeliverable.

Refused by Both Addressee And Sender

Sometimes a mail may get refused by both the addressee and sender even though a return address is provided on the mail. Such mail is also classified as undeliverable by Canada Post.

Refusal to Pay Postage Due

There are occasions when the addressee will simply refuse to pay the due postage charges, and in this case, the mail is classified as undeliverable too.

Loose Item in The Mail

For security reasons, any mail that is found to have any loose items inside can not be delivered to the recipient as they get classified as undeliverable.

Empty Wrapper or Carton

Canada Post does not deliver empty wrappers or Cartons as they could potentially create unnecessary problems, and hence they are also termed as undeliverable.

Given above are the most common type of undeliverable mails according to Canada Post. At least two of them can be rectified by using an address verification system like PostGrid. During the address verification or address validation process, the given address is checked against the official address database of Canada Post. Doing this ensures that the address is real and deliverable.