Date and time notation in Canada
{{short description|Methods of expressing date and time used in Canada}}
{{use Canadian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox
| title = Date and time notation in Canada [{{purge|refresh}}]
| label2 = Full date
| data2 = English:
- {{time|df=dmy|dateonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}
- {{time|df=mdy|dateonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}
French:
- {{time|df=dmy|dateonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes|lang=fr}}
| label3 = All-numeric date
| data3 = {{time|df=iso|dateonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}
| label4 = Time
| data4 = {{ubl|{{time|df=24|timeonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}|{{time|df-cust-p=g:i "p.m."|df-cust-a=g:i "a.m."|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}}}
}}
Date and time notation in Canada combines conventions from the United Kingdom, conventions from the United States, and conventions from France, often creating confusion.{{cite news |last=Sanderson |first=Blair |title=Proposed legislation aims to settle date debate |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/proposed-legislation-aims-to-settle-date-debate-1.3407640 |access-date=25 September 2017 |work=CBC News |date=18 January 2016}} The Government of Canada specifies the ISO 8601 format for all-numeric dates ({{abbr|YYYY|year}}-{{abbr|MM|month}}-{{abbr|DD|day}}; for example, {{time|df=iso|dateonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}). It recommends writing the time using the 24-hour clock ({{time|df=24|timeonly=yes|hide-refresh=yes|hide-tz=yes}}) for maximum clarity in both Canadian English and Canadian French, but also allows the 12-hour clock ({{time|df-cust-p=g:i "p.m."|df-cust-a=g:i "a.m."|hide-tz=yes|hide-refresh=yes}}) in English.
Date
File:Queenston Bridge Canada Passport Bridge.JPG from Queenston Bridge, showing the date 8 June 2014, with June written in Canada's bilingual two-letter code]]
When writing the full date, English speakers vacillate between the forms inherited from the United Kingdom (day first, 7 January) and United States (month first, January 7), depending on the region and context. French speakers consistently write the date with the day first ({{lang|fr-CA|le 7 janvier|italic=no}}) like the rest of the French-speaking world. The government endorses all these forms when using words, but recommends only the ISO format for all-numeric dates to avoid error.
= English =
The date can be written either with the day or the month first in Canadian English, optionally with the day of the week. For example, the seventh day of January 2016 can be written as:{{cite book |last1=Translation Bureau |first1=Public Works and Government Services Canada |author-link=Public Works and Government Services Canada |title=The Canadian style: A guide to writing and editing |date=1997 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55002-276-6 |edition=Rev. |chapter=5.14: Dates |page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianstylegui0000unse/page/97 97] |chapter-url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect5&info0=5.14 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianstylegui0000unse }}
- Thursday, 7 January 2016 or Thursday, January 7, 2016
- 7 January 2016 or January 7, 2016
- 2016-01-07
Formal letters, academic papers, and reports often prefer the day-month-year sequence.{{cite web |last1=Collishaw |first1=Barbara |title=FAQs on Writing the Date |work=Terminology Update |date=2002 |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=12 |url=https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/favourite-articles/faqs-on-writing-the-date |publisher=Government of Canada}} Even in the United States, where the month-day-year sequence is even more prevalent, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends the day-month-year format for material that requires many full dates, since it does not require commas and has wider international recognition.{{Cite book |edition=17 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-28705-8 |title=The Chicago manual of style |location=Chicago |date=2017 |chapter-url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch06/psec038.html |chapter=6.38: Commas with dates|title-link=The Chicago manual of style }} Writing the date in this form is also useful for bilingual comprehension, as it matches the French sequence of writing the date. Documents with an international audience, including the Canadian passport, use the day-month-year format.{{cite web |title=Transportation company obligations: Guide for transporters |url=https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trans/guide-eng.html |website=Canada Border Services Agency |access-date=30 October 2018 |language=en |date=11 October 2018}}
The date is sometimes written out in words, especially in formal documents such as contracts and invitations, following spoken forms:
- "… on this, the seventh day of January, two thousand and sixteen …"
- "… Thursday, the seventh of January, two thousand and sixteen …"
- informal: "… Thursday, January [the] seventh, twenty sixteen …"
= French =
French usage consistently places the day first when writing the full date. The standard all-numeric date format is common between English and French:{{cite web |last1=Bureau de la traduction |first1=Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada |title=Date : ordre des éléments (Recommandation linguistique du Bureau de la traduction) |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/clefsfp/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_catlog_d&page=9UNiQfqJPxfw.html |website=TERMIUM Plus: Clefs du français pratique |access-date=29 March 2018 |language=fr |date=15 October 2015}}
- {{lang|fr|[le] jeudi 7 janvier 2016|italic=no}}
- {{lang|fr|[le] 7 janvier 2016|italic=no}}
- 2016-01-07 (the hyphens can be replaced with non-breaking spaces or omitted{{rp|40}})
The first day of the month is written with an ordinal indicator: {{lang|fr|le 1er juillet 2017}}.{{cite web |last1=Bureau de la traduction |first1=Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada |title=Date (règles d'écriture) |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/clefsfp/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_catlog_d&page=9lcOojjUrxt8.html |website=TERMIUM Plus: Clefs du français pratique |access-date=19 July 2018 |language=fr |date=15 October 2015}}
The article {{lang|fr|le}} is required in prose, except when including the day of the week in a date. When writing a date for administrative purposes (such as to date a document), one can write the date with or without the article.
= All-numeric dates =
The Government of Canada recommends that all-numeric dates in both English and French use the {{abbr|YYYY|year}}-{{abbr|MM|month}}-{{abbr|DD|day}} format codified in ISO 8601.{{cite web |title=TBITS 36: All-Numeric Representation of Dates and Times – Implementation Criteria |url=https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=17284 |publisher=Treasury Board of Canada |date=18 December 1997 |access-date=17 March 2012}} The Standards Council of Canada also specifies this as the country's date format.National Standard of Canada, {{cite web |title=CAN/CSA-Z234.4-89 (R2007): All-Numeric Dates and Times |url=https://www.scc.ca/en/standardsdb/standards/4449 |website=Standards Council of Canada |access-date=29 March 2018 |date=31 December 1989}}{{cite web |title=Getting on the Same Page When It Comes to Date and Time |url=https://www.scc.ca/en/news-events/news/2018/getting-same-page-when-it-comes-date-and-time |website=Standards Council of Canada |access-date=29 March 2018 |date=11 January 2018}}
The {{abbr|YYYY|year}}-{{abbr|MM|month}}-{{abbr|DD|day}} format is the only officially recommended method of writing a numeric date in Canada. The presence of the {{abbr|DD|day}}/{{abbr|MM|month}}/{{abbr|YY|year}} (most of the world) and {{abbr|MM|month}}/{{abbr|DD|day}}/{{abbr|YY|year}} (American) formats often results in misinterpretation. Using these systems, the date 7 January 2016 could be written as either 07/01/16 or 01/07/16, which readers can also interpret as 1 July 2016 (or 1 July 1916); conversely, 2016-01-07 cannot be interpreted as another date.
In spite of its official status and broad usage, there is no binding legislation requiring the use of the {{abbr|YYYY|year}}-{{abbr|MM|month}}-{{abbr|DD|day}} format, and other date formats continue to appear in many contexts. For example, Payments Canada prefers ISO 8601, but allows cheques to be printed using any date format.{{Cite web |url=https://www.payments.ca/sites/default/files/standard_006_complete.pdf |title=Cheque Specifications |publisher=Canadian Payments Association |access-date=17 March 2012 |archive-date=25 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925181137/https://www.payments.ca/sites/default/files/standard_006_complete.pdf |url-status=dead }} Even some government forms, such as commercial cargo manifests, offer a blank line with no guidance.{{cite news |last1=Blaze Carlson |first1=Kathryn |title=Is 02/04/12 February 4, or April 2? Bill seeks to end date confusion |journal=National Post |date=29 October 2011 |url=https://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/is-020412-february-4-or-april-2-bill-seeks-to-end-date-confusion |access-date=25 September 2017}}{{dead link|date=June 2023|fix-attempted=y}} To remedy this, Daryl Kramp tabled a private member's bill directing courts on the interpretation of numeric dates by amending the Canada Evidence Act in 2011,{{cite web |title=Private Member's Bill C-207 (41-2): An Act to amend the Canada Evidence Act (interpretation of numerical dates) |author=House of Commons of Canada |author-link=House of Commons of Canada |url=https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/6256713 |website=Parliament of Canada |access-date=29 March 2018 |date=13 June 2011}} which would effectively outlaw all numeric date formats other than {{abbr|YYYY|year}}-{{abbr|MM|month}}-{{abbr|DD|day}}. Todd Doherty revived this bill in 2015, but it did not progress beyond first reading before the end of the 42nd Canadian Parliament.{{cite web |title=Private Member's Bill C-208 (42-1): An Act to amend the Canada Evidence Act (interpretation of numerical dates) |url=https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/8066030 |author=House of Commons of Canada |author-link=House of Commons of Canada |website=Parliament of Canada |access-date=29 March 2018 |date=10 December 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Hannay |first1=Chris |title=Tory MP's bill seeks to clarify how dates are written in legal proceedings |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mps-bill-seeks-to-clarify-how-dates-are-written-in-legal-proceedings/article27986702/ |access-date=29 March 2018 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=1 January 2016}}
Federal regulations for shelf life dates on perishable goods mandate a year/month/day format, but allow the month to be written in full, in both official languages, or with a set of standardized two-letter bilingual codes, such as 2016 {{abbr|JA|January}} 07 or 16 {{abbr|JA|January}} 07. The year is required only if the date is beyond the current year, and can be written with two or four digits.{{cite web |author=Canadian Food Inspection Agency |date=2023-06-22 |title=Date markings and storage instructions on food labels |url=https://inspection.canada.ca/en/food-labels/labelling/industry/date-markings-and-storage-instructions |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Canadian Food Inspection Agency |publisher=Government of Canada}} These codes are occasionally found in other contexts, alongside other abbreviations specific to English or French.{{cite web |title=Abréviations des noms de mois |url=http://bdl.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?Th=2&id=3619 |author=Office québécois de la langue française |website=Banque de dépannage linguistique |publisher=Gouvernement du Québec |access-date=26 July 2018 |language=fr |date=2002}}{{cite web |last1=Bureau de la traduction |first1=Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada |title=Mois |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/clefsfp/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_catlog_m&page=9Q4ZjwPAAAAA.html |website=TERMIUM Plus: Clefs du français pratique |access-date=12 March 2019 |language=fr |date=15 October 2015}}
Time
File:Canadian National timetable 1975-04-27.jpg timetable from 1975 using the 24-hour clock]]
{{see also|Time in Canada}}
Canada was an early adopter of the 24-hour clock, which Sandford Fleming promoted as key to accurate communication alongside time zones and a standard prime meridian.{{cite journal |last1=Creet |first1=Mario |title=Sandford Fleming and Universal Time |journal=Scientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine |date=1990 |volume=14 |issue=1–2 |pages=66–89 |doi=10.7202/800302ar|doi-access=free }} The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) began to use it in 1886, prior to its official adoption by European countries.{{Cite journal |issue=1 |pages=345–366 |last=Fleming |first=Sandford |title=Time-reckoning for the twentieth century |journal=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |date=1886 |url=https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/annualreportofbo18861smit}} Reprinted, 1889: {{Internet Archive|timereckoningfor00flem|Time-reckoning for the twentieth century}}.The Times notes the CPR timetable in 24-hour notation on a trip from Port Arthur, Ontario. See {{Cite newspaper The Times |title=A Canadian tour |date=2 October 1886 |page=8 |issue=31880 |column=1–2}} The 24-hour notation is shorter, removes the potential for confusing the first and second halves of the day especially visible at midnight (00:00 or 24:00, 12:00{{nbsp}}a.m.) and noon (12:00, 12:00{{nbsp}}p.m.), and is language-neutral.{{cite web |last1=Kuhn |first1=Markus |title=International standard date and time notation |url=https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-time.html |website=University of Cambridge Department of Computer Science and Technology |access-date=25 July 2018 |date=19 December 2004}} English speakers use both the 24- and 12-hour clocks.{{Cn|date=April 2023}} While French speakers generally use the 24-hour clock, they tend to use both the 12-hour and the 24-hour clocks in informal oral communication.{{Cn|date=April 2023}}
= English =
The Government of Canada recommends using the 24-hour clock to avoid ambiguity, and many industries require it. Fifteen minutes after eight o'clock at night can be written:{{cite book |last1=Translation Bureau |first1=Public Works and Government Services Canada |author-link=Public Works and Government Services Canada |title=The Canadian style: A guide to writing and editing |date=1997 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55002-276-6 |edition=Rev. |chapter=5.13: Representation of time of day |chapter-url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect5&info0=5.13 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianstylegui0000unse }}
- 20:15
- 20:15:00
- 8:15 p.m.
The 24-hour clock is widely used in contexts such as transportation, medicine, environmental services, and data transmission, "preferable for greater precision and maximum comprehension the world over".{{cite journal |last1=Collishaw |first1=Barbara |title=FAQs on Writing the Time of Day |journal=Terminology Update |date=2002 |volume=35 |issue=3 |page=11 |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/favart/index-eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_titls&page=9qo3G9wQtvTo.html}} Its use is mandatory in parts of the government as an element of the Federal Identity Program, especially in contexts such as signage where speakers of both English and French read the same text.{{cite book |author=Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat |author-link=Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat |title=Federal Identity Program Manual |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/government-communications/federal-identity-program/manual.html#toc12-7 |date=August 1990}}
Outside the influence of government style, the 24-hour system is rarely used. The government describes the 24-hour system as "desirable" but does not enforce its use, meaning that the 12-hour clock remains common for oral and informal usage in English-speaking contexts.{{cite web |last1=Public Works and Government Services Canada |title=time of day, elapsed time |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/wrtps/index-eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_catlog_t&page=9lMKm-R0uJrs.html |website=TERMIUM Plus: Writing Tips |access-date=29 March 2018 |date=15 October 2015}} It is not the recommended style in journalism, for example.{{cite book |title=The Canadian Press Stylebook |edition=18th |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-920009-54-3 |publisher=Canadian Press |location=Toronto |page=406}} This situation is similar to the use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom.
= French =
Government communications in Canadian French list the time using 24-hour notation for all purposes.{{Cite book |author=Ministre des approvisionnements et services Canada |isbn=978-0-660-91030-7 |title=Guide du rédacteur de l'administration fédérale |location=Ottawa |date=1987 |chapter-url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/redac-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect1&info0=1.1.12 |chapter=1.1.12 Heure, minute, seconde |language=fr}} This is also the recommended style for journalism,{{cite book |title=Guide de rédaction |publisher=La Presse Canadienne |edition=5th |location=Montreal |isbn=0-920009-36-0 |date=2006 |language=fr-ca |page=140}} but outside government and journalism, the 12-hour notation is also used when the time is written in words.{{cite book |title=Le Ramat de la typographie |edition=10th |author1-first=Aurel |author1-last=Ramat |author2-first=Anne-Marie |author2-last=Benoit |isbn=978-2-9813513-0-2 |date=2012 |location=Montreal |publisher=Anne-Marie Benoit éditrice |language=fr-ca }}{{rp|41}} The hours and minutes can be written with different separators depending on the context:{{cite web |last1=Bureau de la traduction |first1=Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada |title=Heure (écriture de l'heure) |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/clefsfp/index-eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_catlog_h&page=9Ix3w11_n52g.html |website=TERMIUM Plus: Clefs du français pratique |access-date=19 July 2018 |language=fr |date=15 October 2015}}
- {{lang|fr|20 h 15|italic=no}}
- 20:15 (tables, schedules, and other technical or bilingual uses)
- 2015 (an alternate style for 20:15){{rp|41}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Americas topic|Date and time notation in|state=collapsed}}