Public Services and Procurement Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Institutional Links

 

Important notice

The Canadian Style has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.

For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!

Search Canada.ca

5.12 Representation of time in ordinary prose and with SI units

Except in descriptive text and in approximations, write the time of day in numerical form:

  • The program will be broadcast at 8:05 p.m.

but

  • He said that he would call after ten o’clock.

In a scientific or technical context, express precise measurements of elapsed time by means of the internationally recognized symbols of time d for day, h for hour, min for minute and s for second:

  • h 20 min flying time
  • The test run took 1 d 3 h 43 min 09 s precisely.

These symbols should also be used when units of time are expressed with SI units:

  • 16 km/d
  • 16 m/s
  • 10 J/h
  • 60 r/min