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Here is a step-by-step guide to using the BizHunter research aid.

Who should use these instructions: New visitors who want to research companies by FSA (partial postal code)

Step 1: Opening your regional BizHunter

In the main menu at the top of the page, or in the Navigation menu at the left, click BizHunter to reveal the regions underneath. For this exercise, choose Alberta.

Step 2: Picking a partial postal code

Click the Postal code menu and scroll, if necessary, to locate a postal district or Forward Sortation Area (FSA) that interests you. Click on your selection. In this case, we will use T1M (Coaldale).

Step 3: Go to map/photo viewing form

You could now send your selection to the Industry Canada search form. What if you are not sure about the location? You can view the location of an FSA, full postal code or exact address using Google's maps and satellite photos.
To jump quickly to that part of the page, click the link "View postal code on Google maps" under the Postal Code menu.

Step 4: Choose the search option

The easiest method of selecting an area to search -- the only option for Alberta -- is to choose a location on the map of the province or city. Subway and LRT rapid transit lines are usually marked in red on these maps.

You can type the partial postal code in the Full or partial address text field, or select it from the Area to display menu. The menu contains the same options as the postal code menu in the business search section above, so you can also start the selection process here, if you prefer.

Step 5: Requesting the Google map/photo

When ready, click the "Map it!" button at the right of your chosen form. A new window or tab will open, and a map or satellite view of the requested location will appear. (Subsequent requests will also load in that tab or window.)

Step 6: View the location

Below you will see the standard Google maps interface, showing a map view of the T1M location at Coaldale, Alberta. You can zoom in or out and shift the displayed area in any direction, as well as switch to a satellite image or terrain map view.

Step 7: Send your choice of location to Industry Canada

If you are satisfied with the choice of location, return to the BizHunter page, which will still be open in another tab or window. In the business search area at near the top, select T1M from the Postal Code menu, if it is not already selected, and click the Submit button underneath, as shown in the image below.

Step 8: The Industry Canada advanced search form

Your selections made in our BizHunter page will be sent to the government's search form, which will appear in a new window or tab. In this case, T1M will appear in the Postal Code text entry field. Make any other modifications to your search that you feel are necessary, then click either of the red Search buttons for the form.

Step 9: Browsing search results

A list of companies that match your search criteria will be displayed. You can control the number of results displayed on each page and the total number of results from either of the search forms.
You will have four viewing options presented for each company in the list. To see the most information, we will use the "complete profile" option for the company we have chosen, Coaldale Iron Products Ltd.

Step 10: The company profile

The complete profile for Coaldale Iron Works will be displayed. The image below shows the top of the page. The actual address, names, numbers and the like have been obscured for this example.

Step 11: Viewing the exact address

Copy the address of the company, return to the window or tab containing the BizHunter page, scroll or jump to the map viewing section and paste the address into the text field. Click Map It! to load a map or photo of the exact location. Note: the page will open in the same window or tab used to display Google earlier, or a new one if that has been closed.

Step 12: View the location on the map

Below is the Google map showing the location of the company

Step 13: View the satellite image of the location

Below is a satellite image of the company's location and vicinity.

Common errors in searching

In the image below, the selection of Edmonton in the City menu (1) together with a T1M as a Postal Code selection (2), will return no results because no companies will match both criteria, except in rare cases where multiple addresses are provided and both criteria are found, but in different addresses. You can use the Reset button (3) to clear other selections before making your Postal code selection again.

In the example below, the Province selection does not match the Postal Code selection.