Header
<gcds-header>

Also called: global header, brand header.

The header is the responsive Government of Canada branded header landmark.

• GitHub
• Figma

Build a header component

Use this header landmark to communicate a Government of Canada digital service or product.

Coding and accessibility for headers

Set the signature element in the header

• Always maintain the integrity of the Government of Canada signature. Absolutely avoid modifying the signature in any way. In particular avoid stretching or changing the colours or text.
• Pass either the colour or white display mode of the Government of Canada signature using the signature-variant attribute. Choose the colour display for a white background.
• Optionally, set the signature-has-link attribute to true to set the Government of Canada signature link to Canada.ca.

Set up the language toggle

• Include the language toggle by setting the lang-href attribute. Setting the lang-href also sets the href of the language toggle.
• Use the lang attribute to set the site language and the toggle will offer the other Official Language.
• If your site is multilingual: Create an option to select other languages by using this header slot for an internationalization pattern. To do so, pass an element with the slot="toggle" attribute to replace the language toggle element in the header.

Include the skip-to-content link

• Include the skip-to-content link by setting the href of the skip-to-content link in the header's top navigation using the skip-to-href attribute.
• Use the skip-to-nav slot to replace the default top navigation with the skip-to-content link.
• Pass a child element with the slot="skip-to-nav" attribute to place the element first in the header.

Add optional elements to your header

• Add a menu by passing a child element with the slot="menu" attribute. This will place the element in the header below the language toggle, signature and search slots.
• Add a search form by passing a child element with the slot="search" attribute. This will place the element under the language toggle and beside the signature in the header.
• Add a breadcrumb component by passing a child element with the slot="breadcrumb" attribute. This will place the breadcrumb in the header below the language toggle, signature and search slot.
• Add a banner by passing a child element with the slot="banner" attribute. This will place the element across the top of the header under the skip-to-nav element.

Get your code

Generate an instance of the component you need by selecting its code properties.

1. Explore by choosing different code values to generate the instance you want.

2. Get the code and pull it into your environment.

3. Add any copy you need to the component (like text for a label).

Note: The code builder uses English for all code elements, which follows standard practice.