Capitalize proper names, government departments and agencies of government, names of associations, companies, clubs, religions, languages, nations, races, places and addresses. Otherwise lowercase is favoured. For example: The Ministry of Long-Term Care made an announcement.
Common nouns – program, committee, institute – are capitalized when part of a proper name: Legal Assistance Program, Editorial Advisory Committee, Best Practices in Wound Care Institute: Minding the Gap. They are normally lowercased when standing alone: the program's success, the committee's spokesperson, the institute was yesterday.
Capitalize event and webinar titles such as Queen's Park Day, Fall Tour, COVID-19 Webinar Series, and Nursing and Compassionate Care in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Virtual Symposium.
The names of national legislative bodies, including some short forms, are capitalized. For example: House of Commons, the House, the Commons. Provincial legislatures and local councils are lowercased. For example: Quebec national assembly, Toronto city council.
National and provincial government departments and agencies are capitalized: Health Canada, Ministry of Health. Local government departments and boards are lowercased: parks and property department.
Awards and decorations are capitalized. For example: Order of Canada. University degrees are lowercased except when abbreviated. For example: master of nursing, a master's degree; doctor of philosophy, PhD.
Headlines and subheadings
For headlines and subheadings, only the first letter in the first word of the headline is uppercase. All other words in the headline follow normal Canadian Press style for capitalization.
Please refer to RNAO's glossary to learn more.
