File Format Guidelines for Smart Data Cleaner

Acceptable file types

Mailing lists for submission to our Smart Data Cleaner tool should be in one of the following formats:

• Comma delimited (.csv)
• Dbase (.dbf)
• Excel (.xls) Note: We do not currently support .xlsx files
• Tab delimited (.txt)
• Pipe delimited (.txt)

If your file is not in one of these formats:

• We can help you convert it for a nominal charge. Please contact us at data.targetingsolutions@canadapost.ca or call 1-877-281-4137 for more details.
• Or ask your mail service provider to convert it for you. Find a provider.

Address formats within your mailing list
The columns in your file must match one of the 4 address formats shown below:

Address Format	Description	Sample (using pipe delimited file type)
civicparsed	Record with Residential address in parsed form	Record ID | Unit Type | Unit Number | Street Number | Street Number Suffix | Street Name | Street Type | Street Direction | Municipality | Province | Postal Code | Title | First Name | Last Name | Business Name
unparsed	Record with Unparsed address form	Record ID | Address | Muni | Prov | PC | Title | First Name | Last Name | Business Name
unparsed2	Record with Unparsed address form 2	Record ID | Address1 | Address2 | Muni | Prov | PC | Title | First Name | Last Name | Business Name
freeform	Record with Composite (free) address form	Record ID | Single Address Column | Title | First Name | Last Name | Business Name

Important notes about address formats

• All fields/columns must be represented, even if the cell contains no information.
  Examples:
  • If you don’t have data for “First Name”, insert a column and leave it blank.
  • If your list contains residential addresses only, insert a “Business Name” column and leave it blank.
• No additional fields are allowed. This includes blank columns to the right of the final data column.
• Column headers should be removed before upload as they will be treated as a record.
• Record IDs can only be 15 characters in length (including alphanumeric characters, symbols and spaces).
• If you are trying to submit a comma delimited .csv file, make sure there are no commas in your address or name fields.

Note: If you receive a notification of a failed file upload, the reason may be that your file is more than 50% inaccurate. This may be due to an overly high number of duplicate records, invalid records, or records that simply cannot be recognized by the address accuracy software.

Please take one of the following corrective actions:

• Review your file and make the appropriate corrections as per the file format guidelines.
• Reach out to our Data and Targeting Client Services group for data preparation options.
  (Service fees will be applied)

Support
If you have any questions or would like us to review a sample of your file before you submit it, email us at data.targetingsolutions@canadapost.ca.