4.05 Governments and government bodies

(a) Capitalize the titles of international, national, provincial, state, regional and local governments; the titles of government departments and agencies and their organizational subdivisions; the names of boards, committees and royal commissions; and the Crown when it means the supreme governing authority:

• the United Nations
• the Government of Canada
• the Parliament of Canada
• the House of Commons
• the Senate of Canada
• the Public Service Commission
• the Department of Citizenship and Immigration
• the Public Affairs Section
• the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee
• the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences

Note that both the legal title and the applied title of a federal department are capitalized:

• Department of the Environment
• Environment Canada

(b) It is in the use of short forms that the greatest uncertainty arises. Short forms are normally written in lower case when used in a non-specific sense, when preceded by a possessive, demonstrative or other type of adjective, and when used adjectivally or in an adjectival form:

• We have formed a committee to study the matter.
• Our section held its monthly meeting yesterday.
• This division has 60 employees.
• The Canadian (federal, provincial, present) government has issued a policy statement.
• An interpretation of the departmental rules and regulations is required.
• The question of parliamentary procedure was raised.
• Unfortunately division practice proscribes such an approach.
• The decision was based on government (governmental) policy.

However, when short forms of government bodies stand for the full title and are intended to carry its full force, they are usually capitalized. This style is almost always used in in-house documents:

• The Government has adjourned for the summer.
• The Minister’s message was circulated throughout the Department.

If the short title is a specific term which the organization shares with no other body within the government concerned, that title retains the upper case when used adjectivally:

• the question of Senate reform
• some House committees

(c) The word Government is capitalized when it refers to the political apparatus of a party in power. It is lower-cased when it refers in a general way to the offices and agencies that carry out the functions of governing:

• The Liberal Government introduced this measure.
• It is government policy not to discuss matters before the courts.

(d) Do not capitalize the plural forms of government, department, division, etc., even when the full titles of the bodies concerned are given:

• Representatives from the departments of Finance, National Defence and Natural Resources were present.

4.06 Institutions

(a) Capitalize the official names of organized churches (religious denominations, sects, orders) and their adherents, universities, school boards, schools, courts of law, clubs, corporations, unions, alliances, associations, political parties, etc.:

• Canadian Airlines International
• Lisgar Collegiate Institute
• the Canadian Medical Association
• the First Baptist Church
• the International Court of Justice
• the New Democratic Party
• the Opposition (official)
• the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
• the Quebec Superior Court
• the Rotary Club
• the Supreme Court of Canada
• the University of Manitoba

The official capitalization is that used by the institution itself.

(b) The names of administrative subdivisions of these institutions are also capitalized:

• the Department of Political Science
• the Toronto Synod

(c) A generic noun used as a short form of a title is often capitalized, especially in corporate writing:

• the Institute
• the Board
• the Party

(d) Capitalize short forms that use only the specifying element:

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

(e) 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:

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

(f) 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.

(g) Documents intended for an internal readership often capitalize terms that would be lower-cased in writings of a general nature:

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

(h) 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.

(i) 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.

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