GC Design System Components
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Top navigation
<gcds-top-nav>

Also called: site menu, navigation, navbar.

A top navigation is a horizontal list of page links.

Top navigation component preview

Check out top navigation use cases to see if they fit the problem you're solving for.

Problems top navigation solves

The top navigation helps give visitors a sense of a site's structure, purpose, and priorities. It's optional to use for websites to:

  • Place popular links in a prominent position on the page.
  • Provide up to two levels of site hierarchy.
  • Offer a familiar wayfinding pattern.
  • Signal the active page and give a cue to the person's current position on the site.

Side navigation for products with up to three levels of navigation when the main content fits a narrow page width.

Header for placing the Government of Canada branded header landmark.

Breadcrumbs for a path from each level of the site's hierarchy to the current page.

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2025-05-06