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Capitalizing short titles: the Act
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Question:
I am writing a document in which I make frequent references to the Employment Insurance Act. When I do not want to use the full title, should I capitalize Act or leave it in lower case?
Answer:
The Canadian Style states that "Short forms [of pieces of legislation] are normally capitalized only when they constitute proper nouns … " This is often interpreted as meaning that Act, when standing for the full title of a piece of legislation, such as the Employment Insurance Act, may be capitalized because it becomes a proper noun.
The Canadian Style further states that " … when short forms of government bodies stand for the full title and are intended to carry its full force, they are usually capitalized." Although this applies to government bodies, the trend across the federal government is to apply this rule to short forms of pieces of legislation, including acts.
When referring to a piece of legislation, act is often capitalized to avoid ambiguity. For example:
- Her act is punishable pursuant to the Act.
So, to improve clarity, we recommend that you capitalize Act in your document when it stands for the full title of the Employment Equity Act.
