Canada’s rich history of settlement and immigration led to a distinctive dialect of English that shares features with British English, American English, Québécois French, and Indigenous languages. This guide highlights some common distinctions between American and Canadian English.1
Measurement
Canada officially follows the International Metric System for measurements, but you’ll also see Canadians using the Imperial System in some contexts. They might announce a new baby’s weight in pounds rather than kilograms, for example, and Canadian railways measure distance and speed in terms of miles rather than kilometres.
Punctuation
Commas
Canadian English punctuation tends to follow the same rules as American English, but less is more when it comes to commas — you won’t see Canadian writers use the serial (Oxford) comma very often.
Quotation Marks
British English:
- Quotes appear within single quotation marks: ‘Let’s have some ketchup chips.’
- Double quotation marks signal a quote within a quote: ‘And then she said, “Let’s have some ketchup chips.”‘
American English:
- Quotes appear within double quotation marks: “Let’s have some ketchup chips.”
- Single quotation marks signal a quote within a quote: “And then she said, ‘Let’s have some ketchup chips.’”
Canadian English:
Both styles are correct and acceptable to use, as long as usage is consistent.
Punctuation with Quotations
Canadians generally follow the American convention of placing all periods and commas within closing quotation marks: She said, ‘Ketchup chips are delicious.’
Spelling
Canadian English blends British and American spelling conventions — a preference for the American -ize (realize or organize) and the British -our (colour or flavour), for example — but Canadian spelling varies
and you may see exceptions to the guidelines below.2
| Canadian Usage | American Usage |
| -oe- / -ae- manoeuvre, anaemia, anaesthetist | -e- maneuver, anemia, anesthetist |
| Canadians are more likely to use -ed forms for the past tense, with a few exceptions: burnt, dreamt, knelt, leapt | -ed in past tense learned, spelled (compare British English learnt, spelt) |
| -ence defence, licence Exceptions: defense/offense commonly appear in sports-related contexts licence (noun) but license (verb) Canadians use both pretence and pretense | -ense defense, license |
| -re centre, litre Canadians generally prefer British spelling, but American spelling is not uncommon: fiber, luster, meager, theater | -er center, liter |
| Generally follows the same spelling rules as American English | -ize organize -iza- organization -izi- organizing -yze analyze |
| Canadians often double the ‘l’ before endings (except for -ize): –ell- marvellous, marvelled -lling modelling -ller traveller | Single ‘l’: -el- marvelous, marveled -ling modeling -ler traveler |
| Generally follows British spelling (single ‘l’): -l at the end enrol -lment fulfilment | Double ‘l’: -ll at the end enroll -llment fulfillment |
| –our favourite, rumour | -or favorite, rumor |
Words List
The following list illustrates common words and phrases that are unique to Canadian English and spellings that tend to differ from American English (though usage varies, and many Canadians may favor American spellings). In fact, much of the language (especially slang) is specific to the country’s regional dialects — you might find a gawmoge janny up for mummering in Newfoundland, for instance.
| Canadian Usage | American Usage |
| aft (informal) | afternoon |
| afterwards | afterward |
| axe | ax |
| bachelor apartment (a very small bachelor apartment is a bachelorette) | studio apartment |
| bargoon (slang) | bargain |
| barley sandwich (slang) | a beer |
| bespoke or custom | custom-made |
| book off | stay home from work (esp. when sick) |
| Canuck | a Canadian |
| catalogue | catalog |
| centre (place) center or centre (midpoint) | center (place or midpoint) |
| cheque (bank draft) | check |
| chesterfield | couch/sofa |
| chocolate bar | any candy bar |
| clicks | kilometres |
| done like dinner (idiom) | utterly defeated |
| double-double | coffee with double servings of sugar and cream, esp. at Tim Hortons (“Tim’s” or “Timmies”), but also used in other contexts |
| eavestrough | gutter |
| fill your boots (idiom) | take as much as you want of something |
| foodland | farmland |
| fulfil | fulfill |
| garburator | garbage disposal |
| give someone the gears (idiom) | pester, hassle |
| go snaky (idiom) | lose self-control |
| grade 1 (2, 3, etc.) | 1st grade (2nd, 3rd, etc.) |
| grey | gray |
| hydro | electricity/electric utility company |
| holy jumpin’ (slang) | express surprise, disbelief |
| icing sugar | powdered sugar |
| Instant Teller (proprietary) | ATM |
| jeezly (adj., slang) | damned |
| Johnny Canuck | native, inhabitant, or citizen of Canada; Canadian soldier, esp. during world wars; Canada personified |
| lieu time | comp time |
| loonie | Canadian dollar |
| Maple Leaf | Canadian flag |
| milk store | convenience store |
| Molson muscle (slang) | beer belly |
| mould or mold | mold |
| moustache | mustache |
| mug-up | break for a hot drink (usually tea) and snacks |
| normality or normalcy | normalcy |
| per cent | percent |
| phoney or phony | phony |
| practise (verb) | practice (verb) |
| pyjamas or pajamas | pajamas |
| parkade | parking garage |
| rag the puck (idiom) | waste time intentionally |
| rangy | restless, uncontrollable, bad-tempered |
| runners | sneakers |
| serviette | napkin (for use with meals) |
| skeptic or sceptic | skeptic |
| skookum | excellent, impressive |
| smoulder or smolder | smolder |
| spinny | crazy, foolish |
| stag/stagette | bachelor/bachelorette party |
| storey (pl. storeys) (building floor) | story (pl. stories) |
| storm-stayed | snowbound |
| suite | apartment |
| sulphur | sulfur |
| table (verb): to put something forward for consideration (specific to Parliament) | table (verb): to postpone deliberation or consideration |
| the Great White North or the True North | Canada |
| toonie | Canadian $2 coin |
| towards | toward |
| tuque or toque | beanie (woolen winter hat) |
| two-four | case of beer (24 cans/bottles) |
| two solitudes | Canada’s anglophone and francophone populations — two coexistent but independent cultures |
| washroom | bathroom |
| whitener | nondairy creamer (powder) for coffee |
| woollen | woolen |
| yogourt | yogurt |
| Z — pronounced “zed” | Z — pronounced “zee” |
1This field guide is mainly based on Margery Fee & Janice McAlpine, Guide to Canadian English Usage, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Katherine Barber, Only in Canada, You Say: A Treasury of Canadian Language (Oxford University Press, 2008). Additional resources: Oxford Canadian Dictionary, 2nd. ed. (Oxford University Press, 2006); The Canadian Press Stylebook: A Guide for Writers and Editors, 19th ed. (2021).
2PerfectIt offers a setting to check for Canadian spelling.
