Writing resources—Writing guidelines

By the Translation Bureau

Find resources that provide helpful advice on points of language and style for use in writing various types of texts.

On this page

• Writing and revision guidelines
• Language articles and tips
• Language blogs
• Other resources

Writing and revision guidelines

• Bilingual legislative drafting conventions
  Source: Uniform Law Conference of Canada
• Citation and style guides (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.)
  Source: Memorial University
• Drafting legislation: Where law and culture meet (in French only)
  Source: Conseil supérieur de la langue française
• Guidelines for writing place names (in French only)
  Source: Government of Quebec
• Guidelines for writing street names (PDF) (in French only)
  Source: Government of Quebec
• Guide to drafting French legislative texts (in French only)
  Source: Government of Canada
• Legistics paragraphing
  Source: Government of Canada
• Ontario.ca style guide
  Source: Government of Ontario
• Ottawa Law Review style guide (PDF)
  Source: Revue de droit d’Ottawa
• Professional Editorial Standards
  Source: Editors Canada
• University of Ottawa writing guide
  Source: University of Ottawa
• University of Victoria editorial style guide (PDF)
  Source: University of Victoria

Language articles and tips

• Language help bank (in French only)
  Source: Office québécois de la langue française
• Language reports: language articles
  Source: Druide informatique
• Le français au micro: Weekly language bulletin (in French only)
  Source: Guy Bertrand – Radio-Canada linguistique
• Legal terminology articles (in French only)
  Source: Société québécoise d'information juridique
• L’œil du rédacteur: Articles for writers (in French only)
  Source: Le Grenier

Language blogs

• Au cœur du français (in French only)
  Source: André Racicot
• Linguistiquement correct (in French only)
  Source: Jacques Maurais
• L'oreille tendue (in French only)
  Source: Benoît Melançon
• The Linguist
  Source: Steve Kaufmann

Other resources

• Addressing guidelines
  Source: Government of Canada
• BonPatron (French spelling and grammar checker)
  Source: Nadaclair Language Technologies Inc
• Downloadable templates for written communications
  Source: Le français au bureau, Les Publication du Québec
• How to write place names correctly (in French only)
  Source: Government of Quebec
• List of expressions to avoid and ways to correct them (PDF) (in French only)
  Source: University of Saint-Boniface
• References and citation styles: How to avoid nightmares (in French only)
  Source: Thèsez-vous? – Chronique Bibliothécaire à la rescousse
• Writing and communicating an effective strategic plan
  Source: Business Development Bank of Canada
• Writing and revising texts: Which tools hold the answers to your questions (in French only)
  Source: Scriptum

Suggest other resources

Do you know of other Canadian links we could add to this page? If so, please contact the Language Portal of Canada.

Related links

For French resources on this topic, check out our Ressources utiles à la rédaction – Guides de rédaction page.