Tips for Canadian Writers

I was born to Canadian parents and retained Canadian citizenship even though I grew up in New Jersey (New Joisey!) and lived there for 30 years. My parents took us back and forth to Canada at least once a year, and both my brother and I attended graduate school there.

I always knew that there was a distinction between US spelling, Canadian spelling, and the spelling used in the UK and Australia. What I didn't realize until I became an editor was how Americans generally write using US spelling. They are highly unlikely to spell something the way the British do or the Canadians. But the opposite is true for the typical Canadian writer, regardless of how clever or well-written he or she is. That person is most likely to mix Canadian and US spelling together in their manuscripts, short stories, or poetry.

If you are Canadian, be aware of this. Before we delve into common mistakes Canadian writers make, let’s begin by outlining the complex differences between these regional spelling variations.

American spelling: honor, favor, neighbor, center, theater, meter, practice, fantasize, license, defense, analyze, agonize, capitalize, counselor, gray, tire, program, inquire, advisor, cozy 

Canadian spelling:  honour, favour, neighbour, centre, metre, theatre, practise (as a verb), practice (as a noun), licence, defence, analyze, agonize, capitalize, counsellor (notice the two LL’s), grey, tire (i.e., for the car), program, inquire and enquire are acceptable, adviser, cozy (cosy is acceptable but cozy is preferred)

British spelling: honour, favour, neighbour, centre, metre, theatre, practise (as a verb), practice (as a noun). You will note that it is almost identical to Canadian, except for words like “fantasize,” which the British will spell with “ise.” That is, analyse, fantasise, agonise, capitalise, counsellor, AND programme (for a TV show), program (for computer-related stuff), grey, tyre, adviser, cosy

Australian spelling: honour, favour, neighbour, centre, metre, theatre, like Canadians and the British. However, practice (as a verb and a noun), license (the noun), licence (the verb ), defense, fantasize, agonize, capitalize, program, and inquire like the Americans. More like British: counsellor, grey, tyre, adviser, cosy

Now, here's the deal with Canadian writers. They are pretty likely to have a mixture of all three spellings. Usually, they will remember to put the U in neighbor or honor, but they are pretty likely to forget that there are two ways to spell practice, and they often use the British form for fantasise instead of fantasize, which is correct for Canadian English.

Americans will never spell honor with a U. It wouldn’t occur to them. Canadians read a great deal of text in US English. They see the words they learned in school spelled differently in books or online, and this can make them forget traditional Canadian spelling. So, if this is you, notice which words tend to be a problem for you, and when you are finished writing your essay, short story, or manuscript, do a keyword search to see if any US or British terms pop up by accident. Set your spell check to Canadian English as the default, but double-check it. Don’t forget that if the word is a proper noun like the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, even if you’re using British, Canadian, or Australian spelling, you must spell that proper noun the way the Americans do with the “ER.”

There is a fantastic software program called PerfectIt, which checks for inconsistencies in documents as large as 150,000 words. I use it routinely, but you can also do this manually just fine.