Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada
Symbole du gouvernement du Canada

Liens institutionnels

 

Avis important

L'outil Writing Tips a été archivé et ne sera plus mis à jour jusqu'à son retrait définitif.

Pour obtenir notre contenu le plus à jour, veuillez consulter Writing Tips Plus, un outil combinant le contenu des outils Writing Tips et The Canadian Style. N'oubliez pas de modifier vos favoris!

Rechercher dans Canada.ca
Pour commencer votre recherche, cliquez sur la première lettre du mot voulu dans l'alphabet ci-dessous.

capitalization: institutions

Capitalize the official names of the following:

  • organized churches, religious denominations, sects, orders, and their adherents:
    • the First Baptist Church
    • the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
    • the Salvation Army
    • Buddhism
    • the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits
    • a meeting of Christians, Jews, Muslims and Baha’is
  • educational institutions and school boards:
    • the University of Manitoba
    • Lisgar Collegiate Institute
    • the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
  • courts of law:
    • the International Court of Justice
    • the Supreme Court of Canada
    • the Quebec Superior Court
  • clubs:
    • the Rotary Club
    • the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
    • the Loyal Order of Moose
    • the Shriners
  • corporations:
    • Canadian Airlines International
    • the Canadian National Railway Company
  • political parties:
    • the New Democratic Party
    • the Liberal Party of Canada
    • the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
    • the Opposition (official)
  • unions, alliances, associations, etc.:
    • the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
    • the Public Service Alliance of Canada
    • the Canadian Medical Association

Note that the official capitalization is that used by the institution itself.

Administrative subdivisions

The names of administrative subdivisions of these institutions are also capitalized:

  • the Department of Political Science
  • the Toronto Synod

Plurals

Do not capitalize the plural of common nouns, even when the full titles of the bodies concerned are given:

  • He held degrees from the universities of Saskatchewan and Toronto.
  • Candidates for the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties attended the rally.

Short forms

Do not capitalize generic short forms used in a non-specific sense; preceded by a possessive, demonstrative or other type of adjective; or used adjectivally or in an adjectival form:

  • Our family attended a Baptist church regularly.
  • Every board of education in the province has adjourned for the season.
  • This university is our town’s major employer.
  • She tries to attend all board meetings.
  • Only strict adherence to the party line was tolerated.

But if the short form refers to a specific, unique institution, it retains the upper case when used as a noun or adjectivally:

  • The Scouts held a rally over the weekend.
  • A city-wide Red Cross blood drive replenished the hospital’s supply.

In addition, capitalize short forms that use only the specifying element:

  • This afternoon, Concordia and Western will play in the final.

Corporate writing

A generic noun used as a short form of a title is often capitalized, especially in corporate writing intended for an internal readership:

  • the Institute
  • the Board
  • the Party
  • He worked for the Company for almost forty years.
  • The document was forwarded to the Regional Office.

Second references

In second and subsequent references, short forms may be treated generically and lower cased:

  • He was invited to address the Second Annual Conference on Biotechnology but declined because the conference was not sufficiently broad in scope.
  • She applied for a grant under the External Scholars Program, but only graduate students were eligible under the program.