The Canadian Style
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Chapters
- + Abbreviations
- + Hyphenation: Compounding and Word Division
- + Spelling
- + Capitalization
- + Numerical Expressions
- + Italics
- - Close Punctuation
- Introduction to Punctuation
- Spacing
- The Period, Main purpose
- Imperatives, exclamations and indirect questions
- Ellipsis points
- Leaders
- Other uses
- Periods properly omitted
- The Question Mark, Main purpose
- Requests, indirect questions and other uses
- The Exclamation Mark, Main purpose
- The Exclamation Mark, Miscellaneous
- The Comma, General
- Restrictive/non-restrictive
- The Comma, Co-ordinate elements
- Clarity and emphasis
- Omitted words
- Quotations, etc.
- Names and titles
- Dates, geographical names and addresses
- Commas properly omitted
- The Semicolon, Between independent clauses
- The Semicolon, Co-ordinate elements
- Misuse and overuse
- The Colon, Between independent clauses
- Annunciatory function
- The Colon, Miscellaneous
- Misuse
- Parentheses, General
- Clarification
- Punctuation with parentheses
- Afterthoughts and asides
- Parentheses within parentheses
- Legal documents
- Letters and numerals
- Square Brackets, General
- Use within parentheses
- Use
- Multiples
- The Em Dash, General
- Enumerations
- Interruptions, pauses, afterthoughts, clarifications and emphasis
- Summarizing
- Material in apposition
- Headings
- Lists and tables
- Punctuation with em dash
- The En Dash, Numerals
- Compound expressions
- Compound words
- Spelling and enunciation
- The Oblique, General
- Abbreviations
- The Oblique, Numerals
- Alternatives and headings
- Possession
- Inanimate possessors
- Compounds
- Two nouns (group genitive)
- Geographical names
- Institutions and organizations
- Its
- Contractions
- Plurals
- Vertical Lists, General
- Use of colon
- Numbering
- Use of semicolon
- Complete sentences
- Capitalization
- + Quotations and Quotation Marks
- + Reference Matter
- + Letters and Memorandums
- + Reports and Minutes
- + Usage
- + Plain Language
- + Elimination of Stereotyping in Written Communications
- + Geographical Names
- + Revision and Proofreading
- + French Typographical Rules
Proactive Disclosure
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The Canadian Style has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.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 and Functionalities Area
7.55 Alternatives and headings
An oblique may indicate alternatives:
- Send in your cheque / money order without delay.
- and/or
- Parent/Guardian: ______________________
A similar use is seen in bilingual titles such as L’Actualité terminologique / Terminology Update.
The expression and/or may be redundant and should be used with caution:
- The engines will be manufactured in Canada and/or the United States.
but
- renovations or repairs not renovations and/or repairs
Oblique strokes may separate headings on a form:
- Division/Branch
- Series/Cert. No.
The oblique is used increasingly to indicate complex relationships between words, a role traditionally filled by the hyphen:
- the student/teacher ratio (the student-teacher ratio)
- labour/management relations (labour-management relations)
- owner/manager (owner-manager)
- the total Boston–Montréal/Montréal–Toronto air mileage
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – The Canadian Style
A product of the Translation Bureau
