Azure Maps Address Search result missing full zip codes for Canadian addresses

Question

Azure Maps Address Search result missing full zip codes for Canadian addresses

Jeff Haacke 40

Another Canadian address issue I'm hitting with the Azure Maps API: I am now using the Address Search endpoint to validate passed-in address fields. The result payload of that endpoint includes an "address" object that has values for "postalCode" and "extendedPostalCode". For Canadian addresses, I'm finding that "postalCode" contains only the first 3 chars, and "extendedPostalCode" contains all 6. This is fine. However, there are some Canadian addresses for which the endpoint returns only the 3-char "postalCode" value, and "extendedPostalCode" is completely omitted from the result. Therefore, I am not given the full postal code back.

Example:

https://atlas.microsoft.com/search/address/json?&subscription-key=###&api-version=1.0&language=en-US&query=235 Main St E, Langham, SK S0K 2L0

Manas Mohanty 3,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-03-27T00:09:18.5566667+00:00

Hi Jeff Haacke

Hope the pointers shared by rbrundritt been useful to you. Could you upvote the provided answer if it helped.

Thank you.

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Manas Mohanty 3,125 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-03-27T00:09:18.5566667+00:00

Hi Jeff Haacke

Hope the pointers shared by rbrundritt been useful to you. Could you upvote the provided answer if it helped.

Thank you.

Answer 1

rbrundritt 20,201 Microsoft Employee

Try using the latest Geocoding service: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/maps/search/get-geocoding?view=rest-maps-2025-01-01&tabs=HTTP

The older Search services have less data and limited logic compared to the latest geocoding service. When I try your query like this:

https://atlas.microsoft.com/geocode?api-version=2025-01-01&query=235%20Main%20St%20E,%20Langham,%20SK%20S0K%202L0&subscription-key=xxx

I get the following response:

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Point",
        "coordinates": [-106.9576788, 52.3603168]
      },
      "bbox": [-106.966111569871, 52.3564540824293, -106.949246030129, 52.3641795175707],
      "properties": {
        "type": "Address",
        "confidence": "Low",
        "matchCodes": [
          "Good"
        ],
        "geocodePoints": [
          {
            "calculationMethod": "Rooftop",
            "usageTypes": [
              "Display"
            ],
            "geometry": {
              "type": "Point",
              "coordinates": [-106.9576788, 52.3603168]
            }
          },
          {
            "calculationMethod": "Rooftop",
            "usageTypes": [
              "Route"
            ],
            "geometry": {
              "type": "Point",
              "coordinates": [-106.9577071, 52.3602266]
            }
          }
        ],
        "address": {
          "addressLine": "235 Main St E",
          "streetName": "Main St E",
          "streetNumber": "235",
          "postalCode": "S0K 2L0",
          "locality": "Corman Park",
          "formattedAddress": "235 Main St E, Corman Park, SK S0K, Canada",
          "countryRegion": {
            "name": "Canada",
            "ISO": "CA"
          },
          "adminDistricts": [
            {
              "shortName": "SK"
            },
            {
              "shortName": "Division 11"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Jeff Haacke 40 Reputation points

2025-03-26T14:51:04.88+00:00

Thanks. Switching to the back to the geocode endpoint does give me the full zip, but then I'm back to the issue reported yesterday with "locality" not being returned back for some Canadian addresses, even with the 2025 version of Geocode. If I have to pick my poison, I'll prob opt for the address search because the zip code issue seems less pervasive. But if you know of another solution I would def be glad to hear it, thanks.

https://atlas.microsoft.com/geocode?subscription-key=###&api-version=2025-01-01&language=en-US&query=150 McPhillips St, Winnipeg, MB R3E 2J9
rbrundritt 20,201 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-03-26T16:45:12.0866667+00:00

I understand your situation. The locality issue has been verified and confirmed by the Azure Maps team. It appears to be limited to Canada for some odd reason. They are investigating the issue to figure out root cause and determine a fix. I'm hopeful that this is something that would be fixable in the short term.

My main concerns with taking a dependency on the older search services is that those will generally have less data behind them as they are purely powered by TomTom data and logic, while the newer geocoding service uses TomTom data as well as data from many other data providers and has much better matching logic. Additionally, the older services are more likely to be retired before the newer services, so I would plan to migrate in the future if you decide to start off with the older service.
Jeff Haacke 40 Reputation points

2025-03-26T16:53:52.4333333+00:00

Thanks, I think I'm stuck using the old endpoint until a fix is ready for the locality in Geocode. Is there any way I can track that change so I can switch over when it's ready?
rbrundritt 20,201 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-03-26T19:54:06.1666667+00:00

There isn't a public way to track the progress beyond asking on the forums or the support team. That said, the link to this forum thread was added to the bug report, so when the issue is resolved I'll likely get an email from the dev team and can come back to these threads and provide an update.
Jeff Haacke 40 Reputation points

2025-03-26T20:12:34.5233333+00:00

Ok that will do, thx.

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Azure Maps Address Search result missing full zip codes for Canadian addresses

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