##  [Honourable, Right Honourable](/writing-tips-plus/honourable-right-honourable)

## Info

Du contenu semblable en français est présenté dans l’article [Honorable](/fr/cles-de-la-redaction/honorable).

## On this page

- [The Honourable](#honourable)
- [The Right Honourable](#right-honourable)
- [Abbreviations](#abbreviations)
- [Additional information](#additional-information)

## The Honourable

The title **the Honourable** is used before the names of members of the Canadian Privy Council, lieutenant-governors and certain other officials.

- The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell was appointed Ontario’s 29th Lieutenant Governor in 2014.

Depending on the position of the person in question, this title may be accorded for life or only for the person’s term of office.

Members of Parliament are called **Honourable** if they are or have been members of the Privy Council.

However, ordinary members of Parliament are not called **Honourable**, except as a group, or when referring to each other as “My honourable friend” or “the Honourable member from…” This use is not always capitalized, as can be seen in these two quotes from Hansard:

- “Some Hon. Members: Hear, hear!”
- “The Speaker: Is there unanimous consent that the hon. member table this document?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: No.”

## The Right Honourable

The title **the Right Honourable** applies for life to the governor general, prime minister and chief justice of Canada.

- The Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc, a former governor general, passed away in 2009.

## Abbreviations

The abbreviations for **Honourable** and **Right Honourable** are **Hon.** and **Rt. Hon.**, respectively. When used to address someone in correspondence, these short forms must be preceded by **the** (which is capitalized in the example below because it is the first word in a line in a mailing address).

- The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

For more information on honorary titles for dignitaries in Canada and abroad, see the [page “Styles of address” on the Canadian Heritage website (opens in new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/protocol-guidelines-special-event/styles-address.html).

## Additional information

### Terminology records

- [TERMIUM Plus® record “Honourable” (opens in new tab)](https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=Honourable&index=ent&codom2nd_wet=WG#resultrecs)
- [TERMIUM Plus® record “Right Honourable” (opens in new tab)](https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=RIGHT+HONOURABLE&index=ent&codom2nd_wet=WG#resultrecs)

### Other resources

- [Styles of address (opens in new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/protocol-guidelines-special-event/styles-address.html) (Canadian Heritage)
- [The Prime Minister of Canada’s website (opens in new tab)](https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet)
- [Table of titles to be used in Canada (opens in new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/protocol-guidelines-special-event/table-titles-canada.html)

##  Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Writing Tips Plus

© Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement
Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada

## Rechercher par thèmes connexes

Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. Les résultats de recherche s’afficheront dans le [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator).

- [Abbreviations, acronyms and symbols](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A447#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results)
- [Vocabulary](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A500#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results)

## Liens connexes

- [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil)
- [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra)
- [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques)
- [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)