Government Account Naming Conventions and Account Types

General Standards and Practices

  • Government accounts should be linked to a parent account, where applicable 
  • Do not use acronyms or ampersands, unless they are part of the legal name
  • Do not include the province/territory in provincial/territorial ministries unless it is part of the name
  • Use Funder Program Stream and Funding Description to capture additional information, e.g. programs of the municipal government

Municipal Government Accounts

Set up opportunities from municipal governments under the parent account, e.g. City of Toronto.

  • When creating an account for a municipal government, use the following naming convention to create the parent account:

  City/Town/Village/Hamlet of [City/Town/Village/Hamlet Name] e.g. City of Toronto


  • When creating accounts for municipal government departments, link them to the parent account and use the following naming convention:

City/Town/Village/Hamlet of [City/Town/Village/Hamlet Name] - [Department Name]
E.g. City of Toronto – Social Finance Development and Administration with a link to the City of Toronto parent account

Provincial and Territorial Government Accounts

Set up opportunities from provincial and territorial government under the specific ministry

  • When creating an account for a provincial or territorial ministry in Salesforce, use the following conventions:

[Ministry Name] with a link to Government of Ontario as the parent account


  • Branches within a provincial government ministry should have their own account and use the following convention:

[Ministry Name] - [Branch Name] with a link to the Ministry as the parent account 

E.g., Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy - Water Protection and Sustainability

  • Do not include the province or territory in the name unless it is part of the ministry’s official name, e.g. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing vs. Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Federal Government Accounts

Set up opportunities from federal government under the specific federal government department

  • When creating an account for a federal department, use the department name and link to the parent account, i.e. Government of Canada

E.g. Environmental and Climate Change Canada with a link to Government of Canada as the parent account


  • Branches within a federal government department should have their own account and use the following convention:

[Department Name] - [Branch Name] with a link to the federal department as the parent account
E.g., Environment and Climate Change Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service