Commas in geographical names and addresses

On this page

• Place name followed by date
• Place name followed by province
• Address within a sentence
• Additional information

Place name followed by date

Use a comma to separate a place name from a date:

• Hull, February 13

Place name followed by province

Similarly, a comma separates a place name from the name of a province or the abbreviation for that province:

• Vancouver, British Columbia
• Toronto, Ont.

In addition, the province’s name or abbreviation is normally followed by a comma within the body of a sentence or sentence equivalent:

• Mont-Carmel, Prince Edward Island, was originally known as Le Grand Ruisseau.
• We arrived at Corner Brook, N.L., the following day.

Address within a sentence

Use commas to separate address components, as illustrated:

• The parcel must be delivered to 340 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0P8, within two business days.

Note that the postal code has a comma after it (but not before it) when the address forms part of a sentence.

Additional information

• Addresses: Addresses in letters or other documents