Spelling and preferred terms (A to Z)

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  L  M  N  O  P  R  S  T  W

If a term is not listed here, check the Canadian Press (CP) Caps and Spelling, also follow the writing style guide.

A

• AB (abbreviation of Alberta)
• Aboriginal – always capitalize but use Indigenous instead, except when referring to specific constitutional rights, programs or business units
• act – capitalize titles of legislative acts but not subsequent references when full name is not used, for example 'Occupational Health and Safety Act' or 'the act'
• addiction – avoid addictions
• Age:
  • adolescent (12, 13 and 14)
  • young person or youth (15, 16 and 17)
  • adult (over 18)
  • senior (avoid senior citizen, aged and elderly)
• Alberta’s government or Alberta government (informal)
• Alberta Legislature Building (official name of structure) but 'the legislature building' (unofficial)
• Alberta Public Service (APS)
• Alberta.ca

B

• bill – capitalize titles of proposed laws but not subsequent references when full name is not used, for example 'Bill 36' becomes 'the bill' after first reference.

C

• Certificate of Indian Status or Secure Certificate of Indian Status
• co-worker

D

• disabled – avoid, use person with a disability or people with disabilities instead

E

• e-commerce
• e-disclosure
• e-file
• e.g. – avoid, use 'for example' instead
• e-learning
• email (no hyphen)
• e-newsletter
• ESL English as a second language has changed to EAL English as an additional language to be more inclusive.
• e-tutoring

F

• First Nations – see also Indigenous
• full time (n.), full-time (adj.)
• fundraiser/fundraising/fundraise – use one word, no hyphen

G

• gender-sensitive language:
  • their (avoid 'his' or 'her')
  • they (avoid 'he' or 'she')
  • transgender person (adj.), avoid using as noun
• Geography – lowercase words such as 'north', 'east' or 'northeast', except when it’s a specific political or administrative name
• GoA (acronym for Government of Alberta)
• government (informal) – 'the government', 'Alberta government, Canadian government'
• Government of Alberta (formal) – see also Alberta government

H

• health care (n.), health-care (adj.)
• homeless person (adj.) – avoid using 'the homeless'

I

• ID instead of identification
• i.e. – avoid, use 'that is' instead
• Indigenous – always capitalize and use broader terms such as First Nations, Inuit and Métis
• Indigenous Peoples
• internet – lowercase only, except at the start of a sentence

J

• job site, see also work site
• job titles – lowercase generic job titles such as 'minister' or 'director' and capitalize formal titles, such as 'Minister Smith'

L

• Legislative Assembly of Alberta or the Assembly (CP exception)
• LGBTQ2S+
• licence (n.), license (v.), licensee (n.)
• literacy - avoid foundational learner
• log in and log-in (v.), login (n., adj.), avoid using 'log on'
• lowercase (n., v.)
• Lt.-Gov. or lieutenant-governor (use abbreviation before full name on first reference)

M

• member of the legislative assembly (MLA)
• Métis – always use an accent over the ‘e’ except when referring to the Metis Settlements Act, Metis Settlements or entities established by its legislation
• Métis people
• Métis Peoples
• Metis Settlements
• minister, ministry – lowercase generic titles, for example, 'the minister'
• Minister, Ministry – capitalize proper titles, for example, Minister of Health, Minister Smith or Ministry of Health
• multimedia (n., adj.)

N

• Names use full name and title at first reference

O

• oil sands (CP exception)
• online (all uses)

P

• people with disabilities – avoid 'persons with disabilities' or 'handicapped'
• person with autism, person with muscular dystrophy, person with hearing loss – avoid terms 'speech-impaired'
• Premier – capitalize both proper and generic titles (CP exception)
• province of Alberta (geography) or Province of Alberta (corporation)
• provincewide

R

• research – avoid knowledge mobilization (jargon)

S

• stakeholder – is too generic list specific groups ( Education stakeholders, instead list teachers, students, parents, trustees, administrators)

T

• toll-free number (adj.), toll free (adv.), for example 'call toll free' or 'toll free in Alberta'
• tradespeople

W

• web page, the web, World Wide Web
• website (one word)
• Word document (brand name)
• workforce, workload or workplace
• work site (n.), work-site (adj.) – See also job site