The Canadian Style
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index
- + Abbreviations, 1.01-25 3
- Aboriginal, 4.11, 14.12
- Absolute constructions, 7.14(b)
- Abstract, of a report, 11.07
- + Acronyms and initialisms, 1.16 81
- + Acts of Parliament 98
- + Addresses 107
- + Adjectival expressions 121
- Agenda, 11.23-24
- Age, numbers used for, 5.15
- + Aircraft, names of 135
- Allophone, 4.11
- Alternate, alternative, 12.03
- + Ampersand, 1.18 150
- + Annunciatory expressions 152
- Any, every, no and some, compounds formed with, 2.08
- + Apostrophe, 7.56-64 164
- Appositives, use of comma with, 7.14(d)
- + Articles (a, an, the) 192
- As far as, 12.03
- Assure, ensure, insure, 12.03
- Astronomical terms, 4.23
- + Awards 210
- Biannual, biennial, 12.03
- Bible, references to books of, 4.19(e), 5.22
- + Bibliographies, 9.02-17 225
- Billion, use of, 5.26
- Black, 14.10-12
- + Books 278
- Braces, 7.38-39
- + Brackets, 7.36-37 300
- British v. U.S. spellings, 3.01
- Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, 15.02-03
- + Capitalization, 4.01-38 325
- + Churches 435
- Cite, quote, 12.03
- + Colon, 7.25-28 447
- + Comma, 7.13-21 478
- + Compass points 534
- + Complimentary close, 10.20 538
- + Compounds, 2.01-17 546
- + Compound sentences 591
- Comprise, 12.03
- + Content notes, 601
- + Contractions, use of apostrophe with, 7.63 607
- Co-ordinate adjectives, use of comma with, 7.15(c)
- + Co-ordinate elements 613
- Copyrighted names, capitalization of, 4.27
- + Corporate names 623
- + Correspondence 632
- Council, counsel, 12.03
- + Court decisions 638
- Courts, in bibliographic entries, 9.09(e)
- + Cross-references 644
- + Cultural periods, movements and styles 646
- Currencies, 5.09, 5.11, 5.26
- + Dash, 7.40-49 660
- + Dates, 5.14 689
- + Days of the week 704
- + Decimals, 5.09 708
- + Decorations 712
- + Definite article 716
- + Degrees, honours, awards, etc. 718
- Degree symbol, 5.10(d)
- + Diagonal 733
- + Dictionaries 735
- + Documents 745
- Dollar sign, 5.11, 5.26
- + Editing 756
- Effective, efficient, 12.03
- Electronic documents, 9.07, 9.16(d)
- + Electronic mail, 10.29-33 770
- + Ellipsis points, 7.05, 8.09 777
- Elliptical constructions, punctuation of, 7.17, 7.22
- Emigrate, immigrate, 12.03
- + Emphasis 791
- + Endnotes 799
- Equally, 12.03
- Et al.., 9.09(c)
- Exclamation mark, 7.11-12
- + Family appellations 813
- Federal Identity Program Manual, 5.13-14, 10.02 (footnote), 10.14
- Fewer, lesser, less, 12.03
- + Figures 831
- Financial, fiscal, 12.03
- Floor (in addresses), 5.21
- Footnote indicator, 9.18, 9.23
- + Footnotes and endnotes. 847
- + Foreign names 849
- + Foreign words and phrases 851
- For example, use of comma with, 7.14(e)
- Former, latter, 12.03
- + Forms of address 865
- Fractions, hyphenation of, 2.11, 5.08
- French definite article, 4.37, 17.04
- + French names 879
- + French typographical rules, 17.01-07 883
- Gender, sex, 12.03
- + Generic terms 899
- + Geographical names, 15.01-16 914
- Goods, good, 12.03
- + Governments and government bodies 938
- + Graphs 949
- + Headings and subheadings, 11.16, 11.20 954
- + Historical periods and events 964
- Holidays, names of capitalized, 4.17
- + Homonyms 976
- + Honourable 982
- + Honours 988
- + Hyphen, 7.50-51 993
- + Hyphenation 1008
- I.e., e.g., etc., 12.03
- Imperial system of measures, abbreviations for, 1.24
- Imply, infer , 12.03
- - Indention 1023
- + Indexes, 9.30-55 1036
- Indirect questions, 7.10
- Indirect speech, 8.04, 11.26
- + Initialisms 1082
- + Institutional names 1084
- + International System of Units 1093
- In-text notes, 8.03(g), 8.06, 9.18, 9.25
- Inuk, 4.11, 14.12
- Irregardless, 12.03
- + Italics, 6.01-12 1117
- Its, it’s, 7.62, 12.03
- Justification of margins in letters and memorandums, 10.04
- Languages, subjects and courses, names of capitalized, 4.11-12
- + Latin terms 1174
- Latitude and longitude, 1.11
- Lay, lie, 12.03
- Leaders, 7.06, 16.07(c)
- + Leading 1195
- Lead, led, 12.03
- + Legal references 1201
- Letterheads, 10.09
- + Letters 1225
- + Letters (correspondence), 10.01-26 1240
- + Lists, 7.65-70 1278
- Locator, 9.30, 9.35-36
- + Lower case 1302
- + Margins 1304
- Market quotations, 5.16
- Matériel, 12.03
- Mathematical formulas, 11.21
- + Measurements 1322
- + Medical terms 1324
- Memorandums, 10.27-28
- + Metric system 1330
- + Military ranks and units 1332
- + Minority groups 1340
- + Minutes (of a meeting), 11.22-27 1344
- Monetary units, symbols for, 1.19, 5.11, 5.26
- + Money 1362
- + Months and days 1364
- Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, 1.03(b), 1.04, 1.06, 10.17, 14.02
- + Musical compositions 1382
- + Names of persons 1384
- + Newspapers and periodicals 1395
- No., Nos., 1.17
- Non-restrictive clauses, use of comma with, 7.14
- Northern, southern, etc. capitalization of, 4.21(e)
- + Number 1420
- + Numerals 1426
- + Numerical expressions, 5.01-26 1430
- Nunavut, 1.09 (note)
- + Oblique, 7.52-55 1514
- + Official languages, in addresses, 10.14 1531
- + Omissions, in quoted matter, 8.09 1535
- Page references, 1.12, 4.30(a), 4.30(b), 5.22, 5.24(b), 5.24(c), 7.48, 9.35
- + Paintings 1555
- + Parentheses, 7.29-35 1559
- Parenthetic expressions, use of comma with, 7.14(c)
- + Parts of a book, poem, play, etc. 1580
- People with disabilities, stereotyping of, 14.13-15
- Percent, abbreviated, 1.17
- + Period, 7.03-08 1606
- + Periodicals 1620
- Periods, geological, historical, 4.17
- Peripheral matter, use of italics for, 6.09
- + Personifications 1630
- PIN, 1.16
- + Place names 1640
- + Plain language, 13.01-07, 16.05(b) 1645
- + Planets 1659
- + Plays 1661
- + Plurals 1669
- + Poems, line references to, 1.12, 4.30 1685
- + Points of the compass 1688
- Possessives, use of apostrophe to form, 7.56-61
- Precedence, order of, 1.08
- + Prefixes 1710
- Prepositional usage, 12.02
- Principal, principle, 12.03
- Pronouns, avoiding sexual identification in use of, 14.04
- Proofreader’s marks, 16.07
- + Proper nouns 1734
- Proper nouns used adjectivally, 4.04
- + Provinces 1740
- Pseudonyms, 9.09(f)
- + Punctuation 1746
- Quebecker, 3.13
- Question mark, 7.09-10
- + Quotation marks, 8.01-15 1758
- + Quotations, 8.01-15 1782
- Quote, cite, 12.03
- + Races, languages and peoples 1819
- + Racial and ethnic stereotyping, 14.09-12 1825
- Ratios, 5.07
- + Reference matter 1833
- + Reference notes, 9.18-29 1837
- Relation, relationship, 12.03
- Religions, religious references, 4.17-20, 5.18(d), 5.19
- + Reports and minutes, 11.01-27 1892
- Reserve (Indian), 12.03, 15.14 (reserve)
- Responsible, 12.03
- Restrictive clauses, use of comma with, 7.14
- + Revision and proofreading, 16.01-07 1935
- Roman numerals, 5.22, 5.25, 11.16, 11.19
- Roman numerals used with, 5.25
- + Royalty 1959
- Saints’ names, listing in indexes, 9.45
- Saint, used with personal names, 1.06
- + Salutation (in correspondence), 10.17 1975
- Sanction, 12.03
- + Scientific and technical terms 1986
- Scientific periodicals, in reference matter, 9.08(c)
- + Scores 2007
- Seasons, capitalization of names of, 4.17
- Section of a law, 4.30(c), 5.22
- See, See also, etc., 6.09
- + Semicolon, 7.22-24 2025
- Set, sit, 12.03
- + Sexist language 2047
- + Sexual stereotyping, elimination of, 14.02-08 2051
- + Ships, aircraft, automobiles, etc., names of 2059
- Sic, use in quotations, 8.10
- + Signatures 2069
- + SI/metric system 2075
- SIN, 1.04, 1.16
- Slang, use of quotation marks for, 8.12
- + Slash 2114
- + Social insurance number 2116
- + Spacing 2118
- Spell checking, 3.02
- + Spelling, 3.01-17 2135
- + Square brackets 2171
- Stage directions, use of italics for, 6.09
- State, 4.21(c)
- + Statistics 2181
- + Statutes, 5.25, 9.28 2186
- + Stereotyping in written communications avoidance of, 14.01-15 2190
- + Streets, buildings, monuments and public places 2210
- + Suffixes 2218
- + Suspension points 2224
- + Symbols 2226
- + Tables and graphs 2238
- + Technical terms 2246
- Tendency, trend, 12.03
- That is, use of comma with, 7.14(e)
- The, capitalization of, 4.37
- + Time 2260
- + Titles of courtesy 2281
- + Titles of office or position 2289
- + Titles of organizations 2301
- + Titles of publications, works of art, etc. 2303
- + Toponyms 2322
- Trade names, capitalization of, 4.27
- + Translation 2328
- + Treasury Board 2343
- Trillion, use of, 5.26
- + Units of measurement 2353
- + Upper case 2367
- Usages, 12.01-03
- + Vertical lists 2373
- + Virgule 2375
- Vocative expressions, use of comma with, 7.14(f)
- Votes and scores, 5.17
- + Weights and measures 2385
- Who’s, whose, 12.03
- Word division, 2.17
- + Words commonly misused or confused, 12.03 2397
- + Words, used as such 2399
- Would (misused), 12.03
- + Year, symbol for, 1.23 (Table 4) 2413
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
10.02 Block style
Letters are laid out in two basic styles or variations thereof: the block style and the indent style. The one recommended by the Canadian government’s Treasury Board for administrative correspondence is the block style. (The Board recognizes that the full block style may not be suitable for all types of correspondence.) In it all lines begin flush with the left margin, including the sender’s address, the date, the complimentary close and the signature, as illustrated in the example found in section 10.26 Model letter.1
_____________________
- 1 The federal government authority for document layout is the Treasury Board, acting through the Federal Identity Program (FIP) in accordance with Chapter 470 of the Board’s Administrative Policy Manual. Guidelines on layout, paper and envelope size, and related items may be found in the FIP Manual. Any future recommendations and directives on document layout issued through the FIP will take precedence over recommendations made in this chapter.
10.03 Indent style
In the indent style the sender’s address, if not given in the letterhead, appears at the top right-hand corner with the date below it. The complimentary close and signature block are at the bottom right. The first line of each paragraph in the body of the letter is indented. Some feel that this style lends a more personal touch.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2026
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – The Canadian Style
A product of the Translation Bureau
