The Commission de toponymie of Québec is the public body responsible for managing Québec place names: names of natural geographical features (lakes, rivers, mountains, islands, peninsulas, etc.) and constructed ones (dams, embankments, bridges, etc.); and names of administrative units (wildlife sanctuaries, administrative regions, conservation parks, etc.), inhabited areas (cities and towns, village municipalities, Indian reserves, northern village municipalities, etc.) and roadways (streets, roads, boulevards, range roads, etc.). In short, the Commission has jurisdiction regarding all types of places.

Since 1977, the Commission de toponymie has had the jurisdiction defined in the Charter of the French language, which also lists the Commission’s powers and duties. Briefly, the Commission must catalogue, preserve, officialize and publicize Québec place names. It can advise the government and other agencies of the civil administration on any question relating to toponymy and give names to places that do not have them yet, subject to the jurisdiction that other authorities have over place names.

It was back in 1912 that a Québec public body was first given the mission of managing the names of places in Québec. This management must take into account both the territorial and the cultural aspects of toponymy, aspects which are complementary and reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the field. Not only must the location and the nature of places be expressed as rigorously as possible, but the measures required to preserve and showcase our place name heritage, which is part of our national identity, must also be taken into account. The implementation of the Charter of the French language, supported by a body of policies and standards on the choice and written form of place names, has brought about a sustained emergence of the French face of Québec toponymy for more than a quarter of a century now.

The Commission has been disseminating its acquired expertise for some nine decades, through participation in United Nations work on the standardization of geographical names, through participation in the work of the Geographical Names Board of Canada and through bilateral relations with a certain number of countries—especially France—thereby ensuring that its mission has a significant impact beyond Québec’s borders.

A list of the subjects covered on our site:

Bank of place names; Naming criteria; Definitions, terminology, vocabulary; Useful links; Mission; Place-name policies; Naming procedure; Publications; Written-form rules

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About place-name committees
How to reach us
-Library
-Consultations on place names
Press releases
Place-name decisions in 1999-2000
Members of the Commission de toponymie and meetings
Name proposal form

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Statement of services to the public

2001 meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Names

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Statement of services to the public

The Commission de toponymie is the public body responsible for managing the names of places in Québec. It catalogues, preserves, officializes and publicizes place names, taking into account both the territorial aspects (location, extent and nature of a place) and the cultural aspects (language, origin and meaning of a place name) of toponymy.

The Charter of the French language sets forth obligations for the Commission, which provide the basis for the products and services it offers to researchers and the general public:

- The Commission is committed to providing the best services and the best products its resources permit, courteously and quickly, by disseminating accurate information and protecting the personal information in its possession. The Commission also makes the following commitments:

The Commission de toponymie is interested in improving its products and services and would like to hear from the people who use them. Provide us with your comments, criticisms or complaints and we will deal with them fairly. To reach the person in charge of complaints and comments phone (418) 643-2817 fax (418) 644-9466 or e-mail topo@toponymie.gouv.qc.ca. 

Legal provisions pertaining to the Commission de toponymie excerpted from the Charter of the French language

Commission established.

Composition.

123. The Commission is composed of seven members, including the chairman, appointed by the Government for not more than five years.

123.1. The members of the Commission remain in office notwithstanding the expiry of their term until they are reappointed or replaced.

Competence.

124. The Commission has competence to propose to the Government the criteria of selection and rules of spelling of all place names and to make the final decision on the assignment of names to places not already named and to approve any change of place names.

Regulations.

The Government may establish, by regulation, the criteria for the choice of place names, the rules of spelling to be followed in matters relating to toponymy and the method to be followed in choosing and obtaining approval for place names.

Duties.

125. The Commission shall:

(a) propose to the Government the standards and rules of spelling to be followed in place names;

(b) catalogue and preserve place names;

(c) establish and standardize geographical terminology, in cooperation with the Office [de la langue française];

(d) officialize place names;

(e) publicize the official geographical nomenclature of Québec;

(f) advise the Government on any question submitted by it to the Commission relating to toponymy.

Powers.

126. The Commission may:

(a) advise the Government and other agencies of the civil administration on any question relating to toponymy;

(b) (subparagraph repealed);

(c) in unorganized territories, name geographical places or change their names;

(d) with the consent of the agency of the civil administration having concurrent jurisdiction over the place name, determine or change the name of any place in a local municipal territory.

Publication.

127. The names approved by the Commission during the year must be published at least once a year in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

Use of names obligatory.

128. Upon the publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec of the names chosen or approved by the Commission, the use of such names becomes obligatory in texts and documents of the civil administration and the semipublic agencies, in traffic signs, in public signs and posters and in teaching manuals and educational and research works published in Québec and approved by the Minister of Education.

22.1. In the territory of a municipality, a specific term other than a French term may be used in conjunction with a generic French term to designate a thoroughfare if the term is sanctioned by usage or if its use has unquestionable merit owing to its cultural or historical interest.

The mandate of the Commission de toponymie of Québec, which is defined by the Charter of the French language, includes, principally, the cataloguing, processing and officialization of place names, the publicization of official place names among those who use them, and the preservation of place names in a data bank. The latter, known as TOPOS sur le Web, is updated monthly and provides accurate information on more than 236 000 names of places in Québec. Location maps to various scales are appended to responses to toponym queries, with the exception of odonym queries (regarding names of roadways).

In addition, for more than 22 000 place names, the meaning of the name is included on the fact sheet just below the map. An asterisk in the search results list indicates that the information exists and is accessible for the name concerned.

In the above text box, type the word or words of the place name you’re looking for, then click on Recherche. The search engine finds all place names containing the words specified and presents them in order of relevance, beginning with the exact name, if found.