British Columbia, B.C., BC

Do not hyphenate the name British Columbia.

  • Tourists often say that British Columbia is not a province but a state of mind.

Note that B.C. is the abbreviation for British Columbia, while BC (without periods) is the Canada Post symbol for that province.

  • Mount Robson, B.C., is the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.
  • Address the parcel to 971 Richmond Park, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1O2.

In speaking and informal writing, B.C. is often used instead of British Columbia.

  • This branch of the Zheng family settled in B.C. over a hundred years ago.

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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

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