We present optical spectroscopy of the dwarf nova HL Canis Majoris over a span of four years .
The observations were made during standstill , outburst , and quiescence .
We determine an orbital period of 0.2167867 \pm 0.0000017 days , based on radial velocities determined from H \alpha , H \beta , and HeI \lambda 5876 emission .
We also present equivalent widths of the spectral features in outburst and in quiescence .