Québec (city)

On this page

• Official name
• Name of municipality
• Spelling in names of organizations
• Québec (city) vs. Quebec (province)
• Additional information

Official name

According to the Geographical Names Board of Canada, the names of virtually all Canadian cities and towns have only one official form.

The capital city of the province of Quebec is therefore Québec, spelled with an é, in both English and French.

• Intrigued by the old walls and European atmosphere, Carl visited Québec for a few days.

Name of municipality

City of Québec (with a capital C) is the officially accepted designation for the municipality. It’s used when referring to the municipal government.

• The City of Québec spends millions of dollars on snow removal every year.

Spelling in names of organizations

When the official spelling for the name of an institution or corporation doesn’t use the accent (é), that usage should be respected.

• North America’s oldest newspaper is The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph.

Québec (city) vs. Quebec (province)

While the official name of the city is spelled with an accent (é), the official English name of the province is Quebec, written without an accent.

• We always stay a few days somewhere in Quebec when we drive to New Brunswick.

Additional information

• Geographical names: Types and composition
• Addresses: Translating Canadian addresses
• Quebecer, Quebecker, Québécois

Terminology records

• TERMIUM Plus^® record “Québec” (opens in new tab)

Other resources

• Translating Geographical Names (Natural Resources Canada) (opens in new tab)