Can I buy the Canada Post change of address list?
No. Canada Post licenses its change-of-address data, called NCOA, through service bureaus so businesses can update the addresses of customers already on their own lists. Its terms do not allow it to be used to build a list of movers. To reach people who are about to move, businesses use a pre-mover list built from homes listed for sale, which PreMovers.ca supplies by city and postal code.
The short version
Canada Post's own FAQ lists, among the uses that are not allowed, "to create movers' lists or other sub-lists to target certain individuals or groups" and adding "the names and addresses of potential (as opposed to existing) customers".
What the change-of-address service is for
When someone files a change of address with Canada Post, that record can be used to keep mailing lists current. A business sends its customer list to a licensed service bureau, and the addresses of customers who have moved are updated. That is useful for keeping your own customers, and it is how the service is meant to be used: Canada Post licenses the data to service bureaus, and everyone who receives it agrees to its terms of use, renewed every year.
What it is not for
It is not a list you can buy to find new customers who are moving. The terms rule out adding prospects and building movers' lists, and they rule out any purpose other than correcting mailing lists.
How businesses reach people about to move instead
The move starts long before the change of address is filed: it starts when the home is listed for sale. A pre-mover list is built from those listings. PreMovers.ca captures Canadian residential listings every week and sells the addresses of homes that just listed, are still for sale or just came off the market, by city, postal area or radius, with every address checked against Canada Post address data. It reaches the household weeks before a change-of-address record exists, and it carries no names, only addresses.
For the other end of the move, the off-market list is homes that have just left the listings, many with a new owner on the way.
Price
Standard lists are $150 per 1,000 homes, Plus lists with the home details are $250 per 1,000, and the minimum order is $75 (500 homes).
See the counts for your area
Mailable homes by province and city, updated every week. Tell us the areas you serve and we send the count and a sample file the same day.
Lists by city and province Get a count →Common questions
Can a business use Canada Post NCOA data to find new customers?
No. Canada Post's FAQ lists adding potential customers and creating movers' lists among the uses that are not allowed. NCOA is for updating the addresses of people already on your list.
What is the difference between NCOA and a pre-mover list?
NCOA updates addresses after people move, for customers you already have. A pre-mover list is built from homes listed for sale, before the move, and is sold as a prospect list. PreMovers.ca sells pre-mover lists by city and postal code.
How can I get a list of people moving next month in Canada?
The closest public signal is the listing: homes listed for sale now are the households moving in the coming weeks. PreMovers.ca sells that list weekly, by city, postal area or radius, from $150 per 1,000 homes.
Where can I buy a pre-mover list in Canada?
From PreMovers.ca. Pick a province, city, postal area or a radius around your own postal code, see the count, and the list comes as a CSV ready for your printer or Canada Post. Standard lists are $150 per 1,000 homes, Plus lists with the home details are $250 per 1,000, and the minimum order is $75 (500 homes). Online ordering is coming; until it opens, send us your areas and we return the count and a sample file the same day.