In the English language certain words are written with capital letters for emphasis, and to guide the reader in meaning and phrasing, in much the same way as punctuation. There are rules to define which words require capitals, but modern usage has introduced a degree of flexibility not tolerated in earlier writing. Basic rules are given here. Examples of capitalization are listed in alphabetical order throughout the section entitled 'Spelling, usage, and GSC recommendations'.

First word of a sentence

Begin every sentence or sentence equivalent with a capital letter. In subdivisions of conclusions, recommendations, or decisions, if the complete thought can be stated briefly, it is unnecessary to introduce the subdivisions with capitals:

If the conclusion, recommendation, or decision cannot be stated briefly, introduce each subdivision with a capital letter and end it with a period.

The first word of a direct quotation that is a complete sentence is capitalized (see 'Quotation marks' in 'Punctuation') as is the first word of a complete sentence in parentheses, when it stands alone (see 'Parentheses' in 'Punctuation').

Proper nouns

Capitalize all proper nouns. Difficulty sometimes arises in making the distinction between common and proper nouns. Common nouns do not require capitals because they refer to everyday objects in a general sense. Proper nouns are so named because they belong and are proper to certain people, groups, or objects set apart, or are words derived from these sources. Hence the names of months and days, derived from names of pagan gods and planets, are proper nouns, whereas the seasons of the year, being common nouns, do not take capitals, except when used poetically.

Proper nouns include these categories:

1. names of persons and places (countries, regions, counties, cities, and other political and geographical divisions) and the names substituted for them:
   
   
   William Logan
   Canada
   the Arctic
   Carleton County
   the Northern Hemisphere
   Montreal
   the International Boundary
   Pickle Lake
   the Continental Divide
   Elm Street West
   the Interior Plains
   the Canadian Shield
   Prince Edward Island
   the Prairies
   the Atlantic provinces
   Prairie provinces but prairie cities
   the Maritimes
   
   
   The examples Pickle Lake and Elm Street West are made up of common nouns transformed into proper nouns because they have become parts of the place names.
   
   
   
2. names of the months and days, languages, races, geological and historical periods and events, and documents:
   
   
   October
   French
   Wednesday
   Inuit
   the Neolithic
   World War II
   the Silurian Period
   the Archean
   the Ice Age
   
   
   
   
3. names of organized bodies and the distinguishing names substituted for them:
   
   
   the Parliament of Canada, Parliament
   the House of Commons, the House
   Natural Resources Canada, the Department
   
   
   
4. names of institutions, churches, schools, libraries, buildings, hotels, clubs, corporations, ships, etc.:
   
   
   Toronto General Hospital
   Logan Building
   Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
   Geological Survey of Canada
   Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
   Chateau Laurier
   BC Hydro
   Vancouver Public Library
   CSS Hudson
   
   
   
   
5. official titles of persons when used without their personal names:
   
   
   the Prime Minister
   the Chief Scientist
   the Premier
   the Resident Geologist
   the Assistant Deputy Minister
   the Director General
   

Common nouns

Common nouns automatically become proper nouns and are capitalized in these cases:

1. when they refer specially to events, institutions, or similar objects and are therefore no longer used in the general sense:
   
   
   world, food, bank, but World Food Bank
   decade, geology, but Decade of North American Geology
   
   Capitals are not used in any general reference to departments, branches, committees, and positions, but only when naming a particular one:
   
   
   The positions of research scientists in the Department of Natural Resources range from Research Scientist 1 to Research Scientist 8.
   
   Use capitals to designate a functioning body, but not when referring to the component members of that body:
   
   All the division directors were present at the last Division Directors' Committee meeting.
   
   
   
2. when they become an essential part of the proper name:
   
   
   Carling Avenue but Carling and Bronson avenues
   Brighton Pier
   Ramah Group but Ramah and Mugford groups
   
   
   
   
3. when common nouns such as north and east are used to name a specific region and its inhabitants:
   
   
   the West
   people of the South
   the Westerner
   the North but northern
   
   
   Note that the points of the compass when abbreviated take capital letters but no period:
   
   
   N
   NW
   E
   SSW
   

Stratigraphic names

A good general rule is not to capitalize unless specific convention warrants it. Thus the modifying names of informal members, units, beds, etc. should be capitalized if, either, 1) the modifying name already is a proper noun, such as Banff member; or, 2) there is a logical and arguable reason for doing so (clarity or emphasis). To conform with the 'North American Stratigraphic Code', the rank or unit term at the end of a specific name is not capitalized unless the unit is formal. Thus Calcareous member, Sandstone member, and Lower member are informal. Terms such as unit A, member B, etc. are obviously informal.

State clearly, at the start of the report, what formal and informal stratigraphic nomenclature is being used. Also state if new stratigraphic units are being named, defined and described in accordance with the 'North American Stratigraphic Code'.

Proper adjectives

Capitals are used for proper adjectives because they are derived from proper names:

A proper adjective is associated with the person or place from which the adjective is derived. When this association is more common, the adjective no longer takes a capital:

Quotations

Use a capital letter for the opening word of a quoted sentence or sentences, but not of quoted phrases:

Titles of books

Capitalize every important word in literary titles. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions do not take capitals unless one of them is the initial word in the title:

Hyphenated compounds

A proper noun or adjective in a hyphenated compound retains the capital:

Abbreviations

Abbreviations of decorations, radio and television stations, certain government agencies, and other organizations are capitalized, but not punctuated, unless they are geographical or refer to a person:

Groups of initial letters that can be pronounced as a word, or acronyms, like certain United Nations and government agencies and programs, are also capitalized but not punctuated:

See 'Abbreviations' for details.

Biological classification

The scientific name of a phylum, class, order, family, or genus is capitalized, but the name of a species or subspecies, or a common name, is not:

See 'Paleontology' for details of paleontological terminology.

Parts of a book or report

Capitalize words followed by a number or letter to indicate the parts of a book or report when they are used in text references. Note that they are capitalized in the singular and plural, and also in parentheses — with the exception of 'figures' in paleontological plates:

The International System of Units (SI)

See the section entitled 'The International System of Units (SI)' for details of SI (metric) symbols that are capitalized. Note that Celsius is capitalized when written out, and that the symbol for litre is 'L'.

Other guidelines

Capital letters are used for awards (the Badge of the Order of Canada); degrees (Doctor of Philosophy); official documents (The Report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry by Mr. Justice Thomas R. Berger); cultural periods (the Bronze Age); trade names; scientific laws, theorems, etc. (Boyle's law); chemical symbols and elements (H₂ SO₄, ¹⁴C, Au); computer language (BASIC, FORTRAN); single letters used as words (X-ray); the titles of magazines and newspapers (The Northern Miner).