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Abbreviations

Spell out the names of provinces, territories, countries and states in running text, with the exception of BC, NWT and PEI.

BC, NWT and PEI are acceptable in running text for second and subsequent references to British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Prince Edward Island.

Abbreviations may be used in lists and tables. When doing so, format abbreviations of provinces and territories according to .

• AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT

Addresses

Format

University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 STN CSC*
Victoria BC  V8W 2Y2**
Canada

*note no punctuation, use of capitals
**two spaces between province and postal code

For further information, follow  including for abbreviations of provinces and territories.

Capitalization, spelling & numbers

Always express street addresses with a numeral (not spelled out).

• 2 Dallas Road

In running text, spell out “road,” “avenue,” “street” etc. Also spell out any directional abbreviations.

• Burnside Road West

Capitalize “Road,” “Street,” etc. when used with a name (as in the above examples). Capitalize letters that appear in street addresses.

• 31B Baker Street

Capitalization

Capitalize regions but not their derivatives. Use lower case to indicate mere direction or position.

• the West (region of Canada), Western Canada
• West Coast, the coast
• Lower Mainland
• the Maritimes
• Vancouver Island, the island
• western BC

French place names

Only two municipalities in Canada have two official forms of their names, one in French and one in English: Grand Falls and Caissie Cape (Grand-Sault and Cape-de-Caissie) in New Brunswick.

All other municipalities have one authorized form. Montréal and Québec (City) retain their accents in English.

For a list of official geographic names in Canada, please refer to . 

Indigenous place names

UVic supports ongoing efforts to restore the use of traditional place names and foster respect for Indigenous knowledge and culture. 

When using Indigenous place names, avoid diminishing their legitimacy through unnecessary parallel use of colonial place names.  

Where Indigenous place names are either well-known or formally accepted, do not cross-reference them with superseded colonial names (e.g. Queen Charlotte Islands for Haida Gwaii).

Where Indigenous place names have yet to reach wide enough use to allow readers to situate them geographically, a supplementary reference point may be appropriate.

• the Ye’yumnuts site near Duncan, BC
• PKOLS, in Saanich’s Mount Douglas Park
• Tl’ches, the Chatham and Discovery islands off the eastern coast of Oak Bay

When referring to contemporary settlements, avoid using “reserve” when reference can be made to community, ancestry or home instead.

See also Inclusive language; in particular the sections on Indigenous Peoples, typography and pronunciation support.

International spelling & transliteration

Please refer to  for a complete listing of countries and their accepted spellings.