Always try to write “the Government of Yukon” rather than a department’s name. What’s important is the program or service we’re offering.
If you need to refer to a specific department:
Not: Economic Development department
But: Department of Economic Development, Economic Development
Not: Yukon Health and Social Services, Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works,
But: Health and Social Services, Department of Health and Social Services, Highways and Public Works, Department of Highways and Public Works
After the first full mention, just put “the department”.
Using just “the Government of Yukon” is particularly handy when you’d otherwise have to list several departments. But if you need to refer to more than one department:
Not: the Departments of Environment, Justice, and Energy Mines and Resources
But: Environment, Justice, and Energy, Mines and Resources, the departments of Environment, Justice, and Energy, Mines and Resources
Do not use informal names for departments, such as Environment Yukon and Yukon Education.
If you’re writing about departments, use the same name consistently so your reader does not get confused and think there might be two different organizations.
Not: Energy Mines and Resources, Energy, Mines & Resources
But: Energy, Mines and Resources
Not: Health & Social Services
But: Health and Social Services
Not: Highways & Public Works
But: Highways and Public Works
Not: Department of Tourism & Culture
But: Department of Tourism and Culture
Not: the Yukon Housing Corporation
But: Yukon Housing Corporation
If you’re writing internal government documents and cannot use the full names of departments and corporations for any reason and cannot write “the department” or “the corporation”, use the following abbrevations. Never use these abbreviations in public materials. (Avoid using an abbreviation in public materials unless it's very well-known by your readers.)
Community Services (CS)
Economic Development (ECD)
Education (EDU)
Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR)
Environment (ENV)
Executive Council Office (ECO)
Finance (FIN)
French Language Services Directorate (FLS)
Health and Social Services (HSS)
Highways and Public Works (HPW)
Justice (JUS)
Public Service Commission (PSC)
Tourism and Culture (TC)
Women and Gender Equity Directorate (WGED)
Yukon Energy Corporation (YEC)
Yukon Development Corporation (YDC)
Yukon Housing Corporation (YHC – but avoid confusion with the Yukon Hospital Corporation)
Yukon Liquor Corporation (YLC)
Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board (WSCB)
Yukon Lottery Commission, Lotteries Yukon (LY)
Also see department-specific spellings.
Unit, branch and divisions
Use uppercase when you write the full name of a unit, branch or division.
Not: Communications unit, Land Management branch, Motor Vehicles division
But: Communications Unit, Land Management Branch, Motor Vehicles Division
Use lowercase when you are not using the full name of a unit, branch, division or department.
Not: the Unit, the Branch, the Division
But: the unit, the branch, the division
Try to refer to the Government of Yukon rather than your department or unit, branch or division. But if you need to refer to a department, write “Highways and Public Works’ Motor Vehicles Division".
School authorities
In the Yukon there are 3 school authorities that between them oversee all Yukon public schools. The 3 school authorities are:
- First Nation School Board;
- Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon; and
- Yukon Education.
Yukon Education is under the Government of Yukon’s Department of Education and oversees the schools the department manages.
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