Canadian English is in some ways midway between British and American varieties. The written standard is very close to that of British English, but American spellings are quite common. Informal speech has a distinctly American flavour and pronunciation is fairly close to that of the northern United states. Canadian vocabulary naturally includes words reflecting the local environment and culture, many of them taken from the native American languages spoken in Canada: for instance husky, moose, toboggan, anorak, kayak. French, the mother tongue of around one third of Canadians, has also given words to Canadian English vocabulary, e.g. cache(a hiding place). — Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, Fourth Edition
© Moving To Canada? Here Are 75 Canadian English Slangs & Phrases You Must Know
Are You Hungry?
Double Double
an oversized cup of coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars
homo milk
homogenised/whole milk
Tim Hortons’ Timbits
bite-sized fried-dough confectionery similar to American doughnuts but uniquely Canadian (they’ve been around since the 70s!)
serviettes
paper napkins
A napkin, serviette or face towelette is a rectangle of cloth used at the table for wiping the mouth and fingers while eating. It is usually small and folded, sometimes in intricate designs and shapes.
icing sugar
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners’ sugar, 10X sugar or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state.
two four
Canadian informal a box containing 24 bottles of beer
a case of 24 beers – cans or bottles
Mickey
A half-sized non-EU Standard Liquor Bottle, considered a US metric “pint”. Called a mickey in Canada. -> Alcohol measurements
A 13-ounce bottle of hard alcohol (give or take)
chocolate bars
A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A wide variety of chocolate bar brands are sold. A popular example is a Snickers bar, which consists of nougat mixed with caramel and peanuts, covered in milk chocolate.
Chocolate candy
Molson muscle
beer belly
Kraft Dinner (or KD!)
The product known as Kraft Dinner (KD) in Canada, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner or Kraft Mac & Cheese in the United States and Australia, and Macaroni Cheese or Cheesey Pasta in the United Kingdom is a nonperishable, packaged dry macaroni and cheese product by Kraft Foods, traditionally cardboard-boxed with dried macaroni pasta and a packet of processed cheese powder. It was first introduced under the Kraft Dinner name simultaneously in both Canada and the U.S. in 1937.
macaroni-and-cheese
freezie
A freezie (Canada), freeze pop (United States), zooper-dooper, juice pop, freezer pop, otter pop, ice-pole, pop stick, icy-pole (Australia), ice pop, popsicle, tip top, lolly (UK), marciano or chupps (Peru), chihiro (Cayman Islands), ice candy (Philippines, Japan), chup-chup, sacolé, geladinho, gelinho, dindim (Brazil), or ais batu Malaysia(Malaysia) is a water-based frozen confection. It is made by freezing flavored liquid such as sugar water, fruit juice or purée inside a plastic casing or tube, either round or flat.
freeze (ice) pop
dépanneur
A convenience store, convenience shop, or corner store is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers, and magazines.
A convenience store may also be called a c-store[citation needed], cold store, party store (Michigan), bodega, tienda de barrio (Latin America), carry out, mini-market, mini-mart, konbini (Japan), corner shop, deli or milk bar (Australia), dairy (New Zealand), superette (New Zealand and parts of USA), corner store (many part of English-speaking Canada and New England) depanneur or dep (the last two are loanwords from the French term used in parts of Canada).
convenience store
Rotten Ronnie’s
McDonald’s
booze can
illegal after-hours bar
Caesar
cocktail (not a salad!) similar to a Bloody Mary but made with clamato juice
Clamato juice
clam and tomato juice
poutine
French fries (thin potato chips) covered with cheese curds and gravy
Tortière/tourtière
Meat pie
beavertail/whale’s tail
fried pastry dough smothered in toppings like Nutella chocolate spread
Nanaimo bar
multilayered brownie with icing
Butter tart
Sweet pastry shell tart with a filling of butter, sugar, syrup and egg, baked to get a semi-solid filling and crunchy top
Peameal bacon
Wet-cured, un-smoked back bacon made from trimmed lean boneless pork loin and rolled in cornmeal
Bumbleberry pie
Mixed berry pie (there is no such berry as a bumbleberry!)
Mind Your Habits & Manners!
Canadian tuxedo
informal outfit consisting of a blue denim jacket and blue jeans
Pop
carbonated soft drink/soda
Washroom
Bathroom, restroom, toilet
Queue
Lineup
Tap
faucet
Canuck
Canadian person
kerfuffle
commotion, fuss or disagreement
keener
brown-noser, sycophant
beauty
exceptionally great person
Life’s Good In Canada
Loonie
1-dollar coin
Toonie
2-dollar coin
parkade
parking garage
gas bar
petrol station
chinook
the warm wind that comes over the mountain during winter to melt the snow and raise the temperature
hydro bill
electricity bill
Toque (or tuque)
knitted hat
snowbirds
Canadians who head south to sandy beaches and tropical waters to escape winter
Toboggan
Snow sledge
writing a test
Taking a test, giving an exam
In Canada, the testee writes a test, not the tester!
Just Hanging Out
knapsack
backpack
klicks
kilometres
6ix
Toronto
track pants
Comfortable sweat pants
runners
Comfortable running shoes/sneakers
thongs
Slippers, often worn to the beach
housecoat
Bathrobe or dressing gown
Stag
Bachelor party (US), Stag do (UK)
Stagette
Bachelorette party (US), Hen do (UK)
Darts
Cigarettes (not the bar game!)
Bill
Check (US)
Chesterfield
Sofa, couch
pencil crayons
Coloured pencils
What you sayin’ tonight
What are your plans for tonight? (informal)
True
Okay, fine
Home & Away!
Hang a Larry
Turn left while driving
Hang a Roger
Turn right while driving
dinged
Fined money (not damage to a car in an accident!)
Mountie
member of the highly-respected Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
eavestroughs
rain gutters on the roof of a house
garburator
Garbage disposal, usually installed under a kitchen sink
fire hall
Fire station
deke
physical outmanoeuvring of an opponent in ice hockey
stickhandle
skilful controlling of the puck in ice hockey
pogie
On Government welfare assistance
give’r
Go for it, give it your best shot
Elementary school
Grades KG-5
Middle school
Grades 6-8
High school
Grades 9-12
University
After-school college (different from ‘community college’)
Time measured in Years – First Year, Third Year, etc
Grade
School class