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Abbreviations and acronyms

An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the full word (e.g. Doctor and Dr.).

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words (e.g. Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS)).

Example 1: Periods are not used in acronyms but should follow an abbreviation.

For example: Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (FSSH) study at the university’s downtown Oshawa location.

When using an acronym, the first reference must be spelled out and immediately followed by the acronym in brackets. The acronym should be used in all subsequent references as long as it makes sense to do so.

For example: The Registrar’s office is located in the Software and Informatics Research Centre (SIRC). The Internet of Things lab is also in SIRC.

Provinces and Territories

In general, spell out the names of provinces, territories, countries and states in copy.

For Canadian provinces and territories, Canadian Press uses the following abbreviations in text (or for second references):

  • Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., N.L., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.
  • Yukon and Nunavut should be written in full.

Canada Post’s standardized two-letter abbreviations may be used for mailing addresses, lists and tables:

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