Welcome to our Canadian English page.
This page contains a growing list of resources regarding Canadian English; how Canadian English has influenced international English and how English is spoken in Canada.
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Our blog posts on Canadian English
Canadian English: offspring of a queen and a cowboy
There was another, far less paparazzi-filled, marriage that also took place in London. This one was the blessed union of two languages, as decreed by Queen Victoria in 1867, when she gave royal assent to the newly formed Dominion of Canada.
How long you been home?
My Canadian brother-in-law has a Spanish wife and two sons. Many years ago, I travelled to PEI with his first son Enrique, who was five years old at the time, lived in Spain and spoke no English. Everyone greeted the uncomprehending boy with the same question: How long you been home? I’ve been going to PEI for nearly 40 years, but no one ever asks me that question, because I’m not a blood relation of anyone from the island.
Sleeping with an elephant
In a rare rant for a Canadian, in this commercial, a favourite here, our hero dispels many of the stereotypes we sometimes get from those abroad. Mostly, I think these sorts of parodies (oddly many of them ARE contained in beer ads!) are aimed at our neighbours to the south that we try so desperately to separate ourselves from.
From sea to sea
“A mari usque ad mare”, on Canada’s coat of arms, translates “From sea to sea”. This refers to the fact that Canada is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the Arctic Ocean. How ironic that the Canadian national motto is almost identical to the last line (“from sea to shining sea”) of the United States favourite, “America the Beautiful”!
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