Instalment or installment: which spelling is correct in Canada?

In Canada, the standard spelling is instalment, with one l. Installment, with two, is the American form.

By Promissory.ca Editorial Team Reviewed against official Canadian sources Last updated: 2026-09-16

The short answer

If you are writing for a Canadian audience, use instalment. It is the spelling found in Canadian dictionaries, federal statutes and government publications. Installment is the American spelling, and it is correct in the United States. Neither is a typo, and neither changes the meaning. The word describes one payment in a series of payments made over time.

You will see both forms on Canadian websites, in contracts and in search results. That inconsistency is one reason the question keeps coming up. The safe choice for anything you write or sign in Canada is the single-l version.

Why two spellings exist

The word entered English from French, and the double-l form is the older pattern. Over time, American English simplified many doubled consonants, while British and Canadian English retained them. That split produced pairs you already know: travelled and traveled, cancelled and canceled, labelled and labeled. Instalment and installment follow the same pattern.

Canadian English sits between the two traditions. It keeps many British spellings, including colour, centre and cheque, while adopting some American ones. Instalment is one of the cases where Canada kept the British form. So when a Canadian writes about a loan repaid in instalments, the expected spelling is the one with a single l.

Instalment and installment at a glance

The table is a guide, not a rule enforced by law. You will find the American form in Canadian writing, especially in content imported from elsewhere or produced without a style guide.

Related Canadian and American spellings

Instalment is not alone. If you are writing for a Canadian audience, the same single-versus-double pattern appears across other words. Here are common pairs you may meet in loan and finance documents.

• cheque (Canada and the UK) versus check (US)
• centre (Canada and the UK) versus center (US)
• licence as a noun (Canada and the UK) versus license (US)
• cancelled (Canada and the UK) versus canceled (US)
• labelled (Canada and the UK) versus labeled (US)

Knowing the pattern helps you spot whether a document was written for a Canadian or American audience. It is a useful clue when you are reading terms and conditions and want to understand which market a lender is addressing.

Does the spelling matter on a contract?

The spelling of instalment does not change the legal effect of a loan agreement. What matters is the substance: the amount borrowed, the interest rate, the total cost of borrowing, the payment schedule and the consequences of missing a payment. A contract is not weakened because one word follows the American convention.

That said, consistency signals care. A contract that mixes instalment and installment in the same document looks sloppy, and sloppiness can make a borrower wonder what else was rushed. If you are drafting an agreement, a budget or a letter to a lender, pick one spelling and apply it throughout.

Instalment in everyday writing

Outside finance, the word turns up in many everyday settings: paying for furniture in instalments, receiving a tax instalment, or reading a story published in instalments. The spelling does not change with the context. A single payment in a series is an instalment in Canada, whether it appears in a store payment plan, a magazine serial or a loan schedule. If you are writing for a Canadian employer, a Canadian client or a Canadian classroom, the single-l form is the safer default.

Editing tools can complicate the picture. Many spell-checkers default to American English and will flag instalment as a misspelling while accepting installment. If you see that flag, check the language setting rather than assuming the word is wrong. Switching the document to Canadian English usually clears it and keeps the rest of your spelling consistent as well.

Which spelling should you search for?

When you search online, try both. Search engines treat the two as close variants and usually return the same results, but the exact match can affect which pages rank at the top. If you are researching Canadian rules, search with instalment to surface Canadian sources, and add the province name to narrow the results.

For anyone writing a website, a blog or a business document aimed at Canadians, use instalment in your headings, your body text and your metadata. Mixing the forms across a site can look inconsistent to readers even when it does not harm search visibility.

How to stay consistent

Pick a dictionary and follow it. Canadian writers often use a Canadian dictionary as their reference, which lists instalment as the primary form. Once you settle on a reference, apply it to every document in the same set: the loan agreement, the disclosure statement, the payment schedule and any correspondence.

If you work with templates from another country, check the spelling before you reuse them. American templates will say installment throughout, and that one word can make an otherwise Canadian document feel imported. A quick find-and-replace fixes it, but the check has to be deliberate.

Common myths

Two claims come up often. The first is that instalment is a misspelling. It is not. It is the standard Canadian and British form and appears in Canadian federal legislation. The second is that installment is universally wrong. It is not. It is correct American English, and it is the right choice for an American audience.

The only real mistake is inconsistency within a single document, or choosing a form that does not match your readers. For a Canadian loan website, a Canadian contract or a Canadian school essay, instalment is the choice that fits.

Where Promissory.ca fits

Promissory.ca uses Canadian spelling throughout, including instalment. The site is a free information and comparison service, not a lender, and it charges consumers no fee. It may receive compensation from lending partners. Whatever spelling you prefer, the substance of a loan is what counts, so compare the total cost and read the agreement carefully.