Guidelines for using abbreviations in geographical references, addresses, locations, and dates and times. Also: some common acronyms.

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Geography

All-cap abbreviations of geographical locations take periods: P.E.I., U.S., U.K.

Exception: Currency: One hundred American dollars is written as US$100.

When listing a province or territory after a city name, always abbreviate following the traditional style: Nfld. or N.L., N.S., P.E.I.., N.B., Que., Ont., Man., Sask., Alb., B.C., N.W.T., Yuk., Nvt.

When used as adjectives, geographical locations may be abbreviated: the B.C. premier, the U.S. president. But when used as nouns, write them out.

• He moved from the U.K. to the southern U.S.
• He moved from the United Kingdom to the southern United States.

Exception: You can use the abbreviated form in a headline.

Note: CP style is to also write out United Nations as a noun but to use the abbreviation UN as an adjective with well-known organizations such as the UN Security Council.

Metric symbols such as km, m and mm aren’t abbreviations, so they don’t take periods except at the end of a sentence.

Addresses

Use abbreviations in addresses where the number is used: 24 College Ave. E.

If there’s no number, write out the street name: Stone Road West.

Locations

When mentioning Guelph or a major Canadian or U.S. city whose location is widely known, don’t add the province or state: He lived in Vancouver for three years before moving to Chicago. For other communities, however, add the province or state and abbreviate it: She lived in Embro, Ont., for three years before moving to Hudson, Mich.

Use the traditional abbreviation, not the two-letter capped one without periods used by Canadian and U.S. postal services. So: Ont., not ON. And B.C., not BC.

Note: Nfld. is no longer used. The abbreviation is N.L. for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Use initialisms (CFI, COU, CFIA, AAFC) or acronyms (NATO, OMAFRA, CIDA) in brackets after the full name only if used again in the article.

Common Acronyms