This is mainly a resource for orthographically-challenged Canadians, although others may find it useful too.

As in most matters, Canadian spelling is somewhere on that ill-defined continuum between British and American practices. Also as in most matters, Canadian spelling is a little more flexible than either British or American spelling. While, in general, it is closer to the British, the American variant is sometimes preferred, and often either would be considered acceptable (although the British is still usually considered “more correct”).

It can even be argued that there is a regional bias within Canada: in general terms, Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland are usually closer to the British usage, and Alberta and the Prairie provinces closer to the American.

Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans tend to stick much more closely with the original British spelling, but Canada is much more swayed by its powerful neighbour to the south. As the influence of the heavily America-centric Internet increases we may see still further inclination towards American practices.

Historically, many of the differences in regional spelling came about (or were at least consolidated) with Samuel Johnson’s “Dictionary of the English Language” of 1755 in Britain and Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language” of 1828 in the US. Webster in particular was a vociferous proponent of spelling reform, and an attempt to make an unwieldy and inchoate language a little simpler and more logical.

This web page is specifically concerned with the orthography (or what you and I call ‘spelling’) of words. It does not concern itself with Canadian, British and American vocabulary, or differences in the actual words used. If you need a discussion of the intricacies of whether to use “spanner” or “wrench”, or the difference between an “aubergine” and an “eggplant”, this is not the place to be (just for the record, Canadians tend to side much more with the Americans on most vocabulary issues). There is a reasonably comprehensive coverage of this on the Internet.

Nor is it intended to cover the vagaries of regional grammar usage, such as the “got” / ”gotten” dichotomy, “write me” vs. “write to me”, the American tendency to include a period (full stop) after contractions like Dr., Mr., etc., etc.

Please feel free to contact me about any words, spellings, or anything else on this webpage that you feel is incorrect, misleading, or just plain not working.

Main References:

If I had known at the time, I would also have made use of Grammarist.com, which is an excellent resource on these matters.