We Canadians have many words unique to our country and even regions. This is my unauthorized, unofficial, attempt to share some of those words. It is a work in progress so check back often for new additions!
A
abegweit - a First Nations word for P.E.I.
absentee ballot - allows voter away from home to vote
Acadia - areas of French settlement and culture in Maritime provinces
access road - road built to give entry where otherwise sealed off by muskeg, bush etc
aglu or agloo - breathing hole in ice made by seals
Alaska black diamond - hematite
Alaska pine - species of hemlock
alcool - Whisky Blanc (fr)
allophone - in Quebec someone who speaks other than French or English
amaut - a hood for carrying a child on the back of a parka (Inuit)
armoury - where weapons are stored
arpent - old French land measure
ash-leaf maple - the Manitoba Maple
atigi - also artigi - inner shirt, also hooded parka (Inuit)
autoboggan - motorized sled
B
babiche - rawhide thongs for snowshoes
baby bonus - slang for Family Allowance cheque
bachelorette - small apartment of one room
back bacon - bacon cut from the loin (lower fat)
baggataway - game lacrosse came from
bank barn - barn built into a hill
banker - fishing vessel or fisher on Grand Banks
bannock - a flat cake usually cooked on a stick in an open fire
barachois - sandbar at a river mouth (fr)
bargoon - slang for bargain
bateau or batteau - flat-bottomed riverboat
beaver fever - parasitic infection from drinking impure water
beaver tail - deep-fried confection similar to a doughnut but shaped flat
bedlamer - young seal
Bennett buggy - auto pulled by horses when gas was too expensive in the depression
biffy - slang for a toilet or outhouse
black blizzard - prairie dust storm
black ice - thin ice on highways making driving dangerous
Bombardier - large covered vehicle for travelling on snow and ice on tracked wheels.
boondoggle - button or device to tighten a chin strap
box social - where women make lunches and men bid for them and dances
brewis - a Newfoundland and Labrador stew with hardtack, cod, pork fat and vegetables
Brier - Canadian national curling championship
brush wolf - coyote
butte - steep, sometimes flat-topped hill
C
caboose - cabin on runners
cache - place to store food from animals and elements
callibogus - drink made of rum, molasses and spruce beer
calumet - sacred ceremonial pipe of First Nations
Cancon - Canadian content on TV and radio
Cancult - Canadian culture
Candu - nuclear reactor in Canada
CanLit - Canadian literature
Canola - variety of rape plant
Canuck - me! Or any other Canadian.
cariole or carriole - horse drawn sleigh or dogsled for one person
cat train - series of tethered sleds for moving equipment across frozen tundra and bog
chaw - Left command to a dog sled team
chesterfield - sofa or couch
chinook - warm winter wind from the Rockies
chuck - large body of water
chum - Pacific salmon
cipaille - layered meat pie (fr)
cloudberry - a northern berry bush of the rose family
coho - a Pacific salmon found along west coast
concession - subdivision of land, usually in Ontario
corduroy bridge - bridge with logs laid sideways, also corduroy road - similar texture
corporal -in RCMP a non-com ranking over first constable
coteau - small hill
coulee - ravine, usually dry in summer
coureur de bois - French or Metis fur trader
crokinole - great table game with a wooden board and disks
crunnick - twisted piece of firewood (maritimes)
D
deke - a fake shot or move
dickey, or dicky, or dickie - long hooded pullover
Digby chicken - smoked herring
dinner - the meal eaten in the noonhour (NOT at suppertime)
doré -walleye also dory
dugout - man-made water hole for cattle
eh - too hard to describe
Eskimo - I put this word here to inform it is offensive. Inuit is correct.
F
fall - season (autumn in other countries)
forecheck - hockey move
Franglais - speech containing french and english mix
frazil - ice crystals in turbulent water
G
galette - unleavened cake made in a fireplace
getter - poisoned gopher bait
Grey Cup - trophy for Canada's annual football championship
Grit - member of the Liberal party
groceteria - small grocery store
GST - Goods and Service Tax (grrrrr)
ice carnival - social events with winter sports, ice sculpturing etc
ice-chisel - ice-cutting tool
idiot stick - low priced totem pole for tourists
iktas - informal West coast, goods or belongings
inconnu - whitefish
Indian Days - festival where First Nations people exhibit their customs
Interior - inland area of British Columbia
inukshuk - stone figure built traditionally by inuit as landmarks and to direct caribou
J
jackfish - game fish of the pike family
jerky - strips of dried meat
joual - uneducated or dialectal Cdn French
K
Kabloona - white person of European descent (Inuktitut)
kamik - knee-high mukluk
keekwillie - subterranean house used by some First Nations peoples.
kinnikinnick or kinnikinik - berry & plant mixture smoked by First Nations people
komatik - large dogsled
kudlik - soapstone dish for burning oil
kuletuk - parka made of skins
kwunusela - (Pacific coast) Thunderbird
L
lacrosse - indoor, or outdoor team game
lahal - First Nations gambling game
lampfish - oolichan (smelt family of West coast)
larrigan - oiled moccasin
Laurentia - region north of the St Lawrence river
levee - formal reception
liard - balsam poplar, espially in the north
lieutenant governor - official representative of the crown in a province
Liquor Control Board - government office for alcohol sales
liveyere, or livere, or livier - permanent resident of Newfoundland or Labrador
lobstick - prominent pine with top branches trimmed for landmarks in the North
logan - pokelogan
lopstick - also lobstick
Loyalist Province - New Brunswick because it was founded by United Empire
M
N
nanook - polar bear (Inuktitut)
Newfie - a Newfoundlander (informal)
notary - Notary Public -in Quebec a lawyer not allowed to plead in court
nunny bag - in Newfoundland a haversack (usually sealskin)
O
Oka - cheese cured in brine by Trappist monks
olallie - several types of berries, esp. salmonberries
ouananiche - landlocked salmon
P
parish - in Quebec similar to a township
parkland - region betwixt foothills of Rockies & prairie. Also northern forests
Parti Quebecois - political party in Quebec
peameal bacon - back bacon coated in cornmeal
peewee - sports player between ages 8 and 12
Pequiste - supporter of the Parti Quebecois
permafrost - ground or susoil that never thaws
permafrost pit - food storage pit in permafrost
pogey, or pogy - slang for unemployment money
posse - Western Canada troop of trained horses and riders
potlatch - First Nations gathering
poutine - french fries with gravy and cheese curds
Prairies - southern plains of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
Q
quintal - unit for weighing fish in Newfoundland
R
rampike - tall, dead tree
rancherie - First Nations settlement in BC
rappé pie - Maritimes pork pie
raquette - snowshoe
ravage - place where moose, elk, deer etc stay for a time feeding
redcoat - a mountie, RCMP
redeye - a drink of beer and tomato juice
rink rat - a kid that does chores at a rink
rotten ice - honeycombed ice starting to melt
rubber ice - thin, flexible ice on lakes
rye - a blended whisky made from rye and other grains
S
salal - small evergreen shrub on Pacific coast
saskatoon - shrub with edible, purple berries (yum!)
screech - potent dark rum
scribbler - notebook (doesn't everyone call it that?)
scrip - land compensation certificates to Metis after the rebellion
shad - serviceberry in maritimes
shanty - rough built cabin, usually loggers log house
shinny - simple game of hockey
silver thaw - storm of quick freezing rain
sin bin - penalty box in hockey
SIN - Social Insurance Number
singing house - inuit special place for singing and dancing
siskawet - variety of lake trout, usually in Lake Superior
skookum - big or brave
skookum chuck - swift current, rapids
slob ice - densely packed chunks of sea ice
slough - pond, bog or mud hole
slur ice - mushy mixture of ice and water
snye - stream or side channel that bypasses falls or rapids
splake - hybrid game fish
Spud Island - sland for P.E.I.
squidjigger - device, or person fishing squid
store-meat - meat bought in a store, not hunted
stubble-jumper - slang for prairie farmer
sugar shack - outbuilding where maple sap is boiled
swamp buggy - tracked vehicle for pulling heavy trailer over bog up north
T
taffy - maple syrup poured on snow to make candy
taffy pull - social event where taffy is made
tickle - narrow channel twixt island & mainland (esp Newfoundland)
tikinagan - cradle board
tilt - temporary shelter of canvas or skins, or covered wagon canvas
tobaggan - flat sleigh with no runners and curved front end
tommy cod - several small salt-water fishes
toonie, or toony - our $2.00 coin
train - dog-team and/or team and sled
tule - bulrushes and "out-in-the-tules" slang for country living away from town
tuque - knitted cap (french sp: toque)
twice-travelled - a very strong port wine imported by ship
tyee - spring salmon
U
ulu - rounded knife (also: ooloo)
umiak - flat bottomed boat made of skins
Upper Canada - Ontario area before 1841
utilidor - insulated piping over permafrost for water and sewage etc
V
venison bird - Canada Jay
Victoria Day - National holiday honouring Queen Victoria born May 24(celebrated 1st Monday before May 25)
voyageur - someone who worked for the fur-trading companies and travelled by canoe - usually French Canadian
W
wanigan - loggers trunk, or a sled for supplies
wavey - wild goose, esp the snow goose
wendigo - Algonquian myth - evil spirit - cannibal
whoop-up - noisy celebration
wickiup - brush/crude shelter
Winnipeg couch - couch with no arms or back which opens into a bed
woods buffalo - variety of buffalo in northern Alberta
Y
York boat - heavy freight boat made at York Factory on Hudson Bay
Z
z - last letter of the alphabet pronounced "zed"
