The Canadian Style Is Online

I first encountered The Canadian Style when I was working at James Lorimer Publishers in the mid-80s (as a bookkeeper; I had no editorial role). It was first published in 1985 by Dundurn Press and became the gold standard for answering questions about Canadian style. A second edition was published in 1997, and it's sitting here on my desk, right beside my monitor.

The purpose of the guide has not changed: to provide solutions, in a readily accessible format, to problems regularly encountered by both professional and occasional writers. The recommendations are based on national and international standards, the opinions of authorities on editorial style, and a survey of current policy and practice in government communications.

Thanks to Robert J. Sawyer, I have found the online version of The Canadian Style. It is published by the Translation Bureau of  Public Works and Government Services Canada. It still shows a 1997 copyright date, so I assume it's the text of the second edition, without updating. That's unfortunate, given how much language has changed in the last 20 years, but it still remains a useful guide.

As a technical writer who spent a lot of time figuring out how to present content online, the web interface makes my teeth itch. For example, the table of contents doesn't appear in the side bar until you click on Search by Chapter. I'd love to run the text through the latest edition of WebWorks ePublisher.

Still, it's a useful book, even if somewhat dated, and I've added it to my bookmark bar. The print version and a Kindle version are available on Amazon if you want one of the more traditional formats.