History UsefulNotes / CanadianAccents

Generally, what everyone recognizes as generic "Canadian" is the accent found in Western and Central Canada. This is very similar to General American, or "Newscaster" English. The two major features that distinguish it are "Canadian raising" and the "Canadian shift". Also, we tend to refer to the letter 'z' as 'zed', [[CanadaEh and may add 'eh?']] to the end of our sentences (per the cliché).

The noun bluff (and the adjective bluffy) in reference to an aspen and willow grove typically surrounding a slough, appears to be unknown outside the Canadian prairies, whereas the eastern Canadian and international use of the term in reference to a low cliff or abutment, is largely unknown in western Canada and causes some puzzlement to newly arrived westerners in Ontario. The phrase whack of is often used in western Canada to refer to a large amount, e.g., We sure got a whole whack of snow in town last week, eh?. Prairie housewives formerly used the somewhat disparaging adjective boughten, also used in the Northern U.S., in reference to bread and other products purchased commercially rather than home-baked. The word is now considered nonstandard, and rarely used. In Saskatchewan, the term "bunny hug" refers to a hooded sweatshirt.\\

* ''Chinook:'' A absurdly strong and warm winter wind that comes over the Rocky Mountains and causes a sudden increase in temperature (The increase can be 20–30 degrees in a matter of an hour or two). These winds occur in an area from just north of Calgary to about the US border centered on Lethbridge and fade out before reaching Saskatchewan. It also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind#Chinook_arch announces]] itself.

* '''Canadian Dainty''' is a virtually extinct accent, except in historical artifacts such as archival CBC Radio recordings and Christopher Plummer. Coming from United Empire Loyalist stock but largely extinct by the mid-20th century, it's essentially a Mid-Atlantic accent which grafts some features of British Received Pronunciation onto a precisely hyperenunciated upper class Canadian English; best described as what you get when a native speaker of Canadian English tries to sound as British as possible lest anyone think he's actually from the Dreaded Colonies. Almost never actually heard today, although it still leaves a few isolated traces lingering in the Canadian linguistic pool; it is, for instance, where that old shibboleth about how Canadians are supposed to say "shedule" instead of "skedule" -- even though almost nobody actually does anymore -- comes from.

[[folder: Ontario - Ottawa Valley]]

[[folder: Ontario - Toronto]]

* '''Toronto:''' Suburban residents are known to merge the second /t/ with the /n/ in Toronto, pronouncing the name variously as [toˈɹɒɾ̃o], [təˈɹɒɾ̃o] or even [ˈtɹɒɾ̃o] or [ˈtɹɒɾ̃ə]. This, however, is not unique to Toronto as Atlanta is often pronounced "Atlannna" by residents. In Toronto and the areas surrounding Toronto (Central Ontario, Greater Toronto Area), the th sound /ð/ is often pronounced [d]. Sometimes /ð/ is elided altogether, resulting in "Do you want this one er'iss one?" The word southern is often pronounced with [aʊ]. In the regional area north of York and south of Parry Sound, notably among those who were born in these bedroom communities (Barrie, Vaughan, Orillia, Bradford, Newmarket, Keswick, etc.), the cutting down of syllables and consonants often heard, e.g. "probably" is reduced to "prolly", or "probly" when used as a response. In Toronto's ethnic communities there are many words that are distinct; many of which come from the city's large Caribbean community.
** '''Scarborough:''' Working-class Toronto suburb. See: Mike Myers, the Music/BarenakedLadies. The rest of Toronto is very multi-racial, but even so the long time Canadians lack a conspicuous accent. In fact, the accent could be viewed as "generic."

* '''Southwestern Ontario:''' In Southwestern Ontario (roughly in the line south from Sarnia to St. Catharines), despite the existence of the many characteristics of West/Central Canadian English, many speakers, especially those under 30 speak a dialect which is influenced by the Inland Northern American English dialect found on much of the American regions adjacent to the Great Lakes, though there are minor differences such as Canadian raising (listen to "ice" vs "my"). Additionally there is a tendency to round the mouth after pronouncing the vowel "o" which is distinct from the General American Accent. Also, the vowel of "bag" sounds closer to "vague" or "egg", "right" sounds like "rate", the "ah" vowel in "can't" is drawn out, sounding like "kee-ant".

* '''Midwestern Ontario:''' The subregion of Midwestern Ontario consists of the Counties of Huron, Bruce, Grey, and Perth. The "Queen's Bush" as the area was called, did not experience communication with Southwestern and Central dialects until the early 20th century. Thus, a strong accent similar to Central Ontarian is heard, yet many different phrasings exist. It is typical in the area to drop phonetic sounds to make shorter contractions, such as: Prolly (Probably), Goin' (Going), and "Wuts goin' on tonight? D'ya wanna do sumthin'?" It is particularly strong in the County of Bruce, so much that it is commonly referred to as being the Bruce Cownian (Bruce Countian) accent. Also 'er' sounds are often pronounced 'air', with "were" sounding more like "wear".

* '''Eastern Ontario:''' Canadian raising is not as strong in Eastern Ontario as it is in the rest of the province. In Prescott and Russell, parts of Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry and Eastern Ottawa, French accents are often mixed with English ones due to the high Franco-Ontarian population there. In Renfrew County a separate dialect known as Ottawa Valley Twang has developed. In Lanark County, Western Ottawa and Leeds-Grenville and the rest of Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, the accent spoken is nearly identical to that spoken in Central Ontario and the Quinte area.

* '''Quebec English:''' Influences from the French-speaking community will be strong. Even an Anglophone with limited French might find himself ending sentences on an upturned tone that would otherwise indicate a question, or reading a partially French sign like "Pie IX Boulevard" as "pi neuf", not "pie nine". English Quebeckers also tend to pronounce all the long "A" sounds, so they will pronounce "Larry married Mary in Paris" as "Lahree mahreed Merry in Pahris," whereas English-speakers from west of the Quebec line tend to say "Lerry merried Merry in Perris." English is a minority language in Quebec, but has many speakers in Montreal, the Eastern Townships and in the Gatineau-Ottawa region. Uniquely, Montreal-native anglophones do not fully merge Mary and merry, to most speakers of Canadian English these words are homophones. Among Eastern Townships-native anglophones, syrup is often pronounced as sir-rup.\\
Quebec also has French influence. A person with English mother tongue and still speaking English as the first language is called an Anglophone. The corresponding term for a French speaker is Francophone and the corresponding term for a person who is neither Anglophone nor Francophone is Allophone. Quebec Anglophones generally pronounce French street names in Montreal as French words, although this is a more recent phenomenon (largely since the introduction of Quebec's notorious language laws that took away bilingual signage. Anglophones over a certain age will still say "St. Lawrence Boulevard", not "Saint-Laurent", pronounce Jeanne-Mance as "Gene Mantz", etc.) Pie IX Boulevard is pronounced as in French, not as "pie nine", but as "pee-nuff". On the other hand, Anglophones do pronounce final d's as in Bernard and Bouchard; the word Montreal is pronounced as an English word and Rue Lambert-Closse is known as Clossy Street.

Much ado is made of the Quebecois nationalism, so the French accent tends to crop up when filling roles matching the "rude to foreigners" shtick. If this is not the case, they are filling one of two roles: domestic terrorist (less common in these less tense days) or substitute Frenchman stereotype, with drinking, carousing, and cigarette-smoking in quantity. Keep in mind the Quebec journalist who criticized the late French president UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle for calling the Quebecois the "French of America." What De Gaulle didn't understand, the journalist said, is that "Quebecois are actually Americans who speak French."\\
'''A quick, easy trick to distinguish a Quebec French accent from the cliche Paris accent:''' In English the word "the" should be pronounced like "de" and not like "ze". This is dead giveaway. Also, cue in colorful religious-objects-themed curse words.

* '''UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} French:''' If you understand that a taxi driver from the Bronx doesn't speak the same English as a Cambridge law professor, then you should understand that a Quebecois accountant and a Paris computer programmer wouldn't sound the same either. Quebec French at all social levels is very distinct from European French, probably more distinct than Bronx English vs. upper class British English. Quebec French is mostly derived from the Norman-French spoke by the pioneers, which ressembles French for the most part, but has its own share of unique words, which are used interchangably with their French equivalent ("y'a"/"il a", "a'a"/"elle a", ""chu"/"je suis", etc.) and puts less emphasis on voyel quality. Since Parisian French has mostly replaced other dialects in France, these distinctions often come as a surprise to French speakers from European countries. Has some degree of [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], as some people say "là"("there") at the end of each sentence. Contrarily to France, Quebec french speakers tend to naturalize foreign words (especially English), either with a direct translation or with a slight tweaking of the word to make the ending sound french (common with -or words: they get changed to -eur). This varies if one is considering "French", Franglish, or...

** '''Radio-Canada French''' Upper class French. When radio and other mediums of audio communication became more prevalent, a lot of people became aware of the gap between Quebec French and European French. This led to a form of CulturalCringe for some, who adopted the [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench classier]] French of the old world. This is the French you're going to hear on radio or in movies, where most of the expressions and vocabulary are derived from European french, but with a somewhat distinct pronounciation.

* '''Acadian French:''' while Acadian French proper tends to be equivalent to ''joual'', a more recent evolution, call ''chiac'' has been recognized as a distinct dialect, using not only English words but entire English phrases on a French grammatical base with French pronunciation and even verb forms. ''J'va parker mon char.'' (I'm going to park my car) is a good example. It's stereotypically spoken by someone who can't speak either English or French "properly" but in the last few years there's been a growing use of it in literature and television. This form of French is spoken primarily in Eastern Canada, and especially in New Brunswick and the Gaspé (The bit of Québec on the South side of the St. Laurence River.) where the joke is "Move to New Brunswick and lose your French and your English both." As a bit of historical trivia, the word "Cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian," as a lot of settlers in that area were exiles from Acadia.
** It should be pointed out that ''chiac'' is a fairly recent concept, with most of its active speakers being 40 or younger. Before then, people from New Brunswick spoke either French or English. ''Chiac'' is a result of the loosening of these cultural divisions and both languages merging into a common dialect. It should by no means be used as an indicator that the individual cannot speak "proper" French or English - speaking ''chiac'' is commonly a concious decision on the part of a speaker who is also fluent in either "proper" French or Canadian English - and often both.

* '''Newfoundland English:''' Not just an accent, but an actual dialect in its full form. If an accent is recognized by a non-Canadian, it'll be this one; even Quebecois French may be mistaken for Continental French, but "Newfunese" or "Newfie" is a class all its own. Pronounciation, words and even grammar are different from anywhere else, even the Maritime provinces. Think a stereotypical pirate/sailor accent, with fewer "arr"s, the addition of rounding the long-"i" (so "Mike" sounds like "Moike") and unusual constructions like "That was some boring" instead of "That was very boring." "Whaddya at?" is ''the'' archetypal greeting. In conversation, every sententce will end in "b'y" (boy) or "dear" depending the gender of the person being spoken too. See Rick Mercer for a "townie" St. John's accent, or the movie ''Film/TheShippingNews'' for reasonable rendered "bay" accents. Linguistically, English in North America is divided between Newfoundland...and everywhere else.\\

* '''First Nations:''' While The accent itself is similar to that used by Native Americans, especially those from the northern states, there are some specific differences. For one Canadian Aboriginals have a much stronger rhythmic element to their accent. First Nations tend to stretch the first part of words and clip the second syllable so that [[CatchPhrase Ever Sick]] becomes Eevvv-R Ssiii-k. Also Native tends to pitch their speech so that their voice go very high on the long syllables. This is actually something of an emotional cue with high notes indicating joy and joking with low notes indicating seriousness. Aboriginals don't tend to use volume as an emotional cue so for instance just because the Aboriginal person is yelling doesn't always mean they're angry although it can.\\

See also UsefulNotes/CanadianAccentInfluences for more technical details. Compare UsefulNotes/BritishAccents, UsefulNotes/IrishAccents, UsefulNotes/GermanDialects and KansaiRegionalAccent.

* '''First Nations:''' The accent itself is similar to that used by Native Americans especially those from the northern states there are some specific differences. For one Canadian Aboriginals have a much stronger rhythmic element to their accent. First Nations tend to stretch the first part of words and clip the second syllable so that [[CatchPhrase Ever Sick]] becomes Eevvv-R Ssiii-k. Also Native tends to pitch their speech so that their voice go very high on the long syllables. This is actually something of an emotional cue with high notes indicating joy and joking with low notes indicating seriousness. Aboriginals don't tend to use volume as an emotional cue so for instance just because the Aboriginal person is yelling doesn't always mean they're angry although it can.\\

There is noticeable pronunciation differences by which each speaker calls the name of his or her respective city. People from Edmonton generally omit the "d" in their city's name, making it sound more like "Eh-mon-ten". Calgary is pronounced by people native to the city with an /ə/, or omit the second "a" altogether, making it two syllables; pronounced Cal-gree. It is sometimes pronounced like "Cal-guh-ry", instead of "Cal-gah-ry", used elsewhere in the country. People from Regina (generally pronounced /rɨˈdʒaɪnə/) are inclined to pronounce the first vowel as an [ə]. People from cities with longer names tend to shorten their city's name, as in the case of Lloydminster (Lloyd), Swift Current (Swift), Medicine Hat (Hat or the Hat), Lethbridge (Leth or LA (as in Lethbridge, Alberta)), Prince Albert (P.A.) etc. With regards to provincial names, Albertans tend to lessen the emphasis on the "al" in Alberta, making the province's name sound like "ul-ber-ta". Saskatchewan residents pronounce the "wan" as /wɨn/ instead of /wɑːn/, which is used in central and eastern Canada.

There is noticeable pronunciation differences by which each speaker calls the name of his or her respective city. People from Edmonton generally omit the "d" in their city's name, making it sound more like "Eh-mon-ten". Calgary is pronounced by people native to the city with an /ə/, or omit the second "a" altogether, making it two syllables; pronounced Cal-gree. It is sometimes pronounced like "Cal-guh-ry", instead of "Cal-gah-ry", used elsewhere in the country. People from Regina (generally pronounced /rɨˈdʒaɪnə/) are inclined to pronounce the first vowel as an [ə]. People from cities with longer names tend to shorten their city's name to a single syllable, as in the case of Lloydminster (Lloyd), Swift Current (Swift), Medicine Hat (Hat or the Hatt), Lethbridge (Leth or LA (as in Lethbridge, Alberta), Prince Albert (P.A.) etc. With regards to provincial names, Albertans tend to lessen the emphasis on the "al" in Alberta, making the province's name sound like "ul-ber-ta". Saskatchewan residents pronounce the "wan" as /wɨn/ instead of /wɑːn/, which is used in central and eastern Canada.

There is noticeable pronunciation differences by which each speaker calls the name of his or her respective city. People from Edmonton generally omit the "d" in their city's name, making it sound more like "Eh-mon-ten". Calgary is pronounced by people native to the city with an /ə/, or omit the second "a" altogether, making it two syllables; pronounced Cal-gree. It is sometimes pronounced like "Cal-guh-ry", instead of "Cal-gah-ry", used elsewhere in the country. People from Regina (generally pronounced /rɨˈdʒaɪnə/) are inclined to pronounce the first vowel as an [ə]. People from cities with longer names tend to shorten their city's name to a single syllable, as in the case of Lloydminster (Lloyd), Swift Current (Swift), Medicine Hat (Hat), Lethbridge (Leth), Prince Albert (P.A.) etc. With regards to provincial names, Albertans tend to lessen the emphasis on the "al" in Alberta, making the province's name sound like "ul-ber-ta". Saskatchewan residents pronounce the "wan" as /wɨn/ instead of /wɑːn/, which is used in central and eastern Canada.

* ''Chinook:'' A absurdly strong and warm winter wind that comes over the Rocky Mountains and causes a sudden increase in temperature (20–30 degrees in a matter of an hour or two). These winds occur in an area from just north of Calgary to about the US border centered on Lethbridge and fade out before reaching Saskatchewan. It also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_wind#Chinook_arch announces]] itself.

There is noticeable pronunciation differences by which each speaker calls the name of his or her respective city. People from Edmonton generally omit the "d" in their city's name, making it sound more like "Eh-mon-ten". Calgary is pronounced by people native to the city with an /ə/, or omit the second "a" altogether, making the name sound like "Cal-guh-ry" or simply "Cal-g-ry", instead of "Cal-gah-ry", used elsewhere in the country. People from Regina (generally pronounced /rɨˈdʒaɪnə/) are inclined to pronounce the first vowel as an [ə]. People from cities with longer names tend to shorten their city's name to a single syllable, as in the case of Lloydminster (Lloyd), Swift Current (Swift), Medicine Hat (Hat), Lethbridge (Leth), Prince Albert (P.A.) etc. With regards to provincial names, Albertans tend to lessen the emphasis on the "al" in Alberta, making the province's name sound like "ul-ber-ta". Saskatchewan residents pronounce the "wan" as /wɨn/ instead of /wɑːn/, which is used in central and eastern Canada.

* '''Quebec French:''' If you understand that a taxi driver from the Bronx doesn't speak the same English as a Cambridge law professor, then you should understand that a Quebecois accountant and a Paris computer programmer wouldn't sound the same either. Quebec French at all social levels is very distinct from European French, probably more distinct than Bronx English vs. upper class British English. Quebec French is mostly derived from the Norman-French spoke by the pioneers, which ressembles French for the most part, but has its own share of unique words, which are used interchangably with their French equivalent ("y'a"/"il a", "a'a"/"elle a", ""chu"/"je suis", etc.) and puts less emphasis on voyel quality. Since Parisian French has mostly replaced other dialects in France, these distinctions often come as a surprise to French speakers from European countries. Has some degree of [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], as some people say "là"("there") at the end of each sentence. Contrarily to France, Quebec french speakers tend to naturalize foreign words (especially English), either with a direct translation or with a slight tweaking of the word to make the ending sound french (common with -or words: they get changed to -eur). This varies if one is considering "French", Franglish, or...

* '''Quebec French:''' If you understand that a taxi driver from the Bronx doesn't speak the same English as a Cambridge law professor, then you should understand that a Quebecois accountant and a Paris computer programmer wouldn't sound the same either. And no, they don't wear berets or walk around with baguettes under their arms in Montreal either. Quebec French at all social levels is very distinct from European French, probably more distinct than Bronx English vs. upper class British English. Quebec French is mostly derived from the Norman-French spoke by the pioneers, which ressembles French for the most part, but has its own share of unique words, which are used interchangably with their French equivalent ("y'a"/"il a", "a'a"/"elle a", ""chu"/"je suis", etc.) and puts less emphasis on voyel quality. Since Parisian French has mostly replaced other dialects in France, these distinctions often come as a surprise to French speakers from European countries. Has some degree of [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], as some people say "là"("there") at the end of each sentence. Contrarily to France, Quebec french speakers tend to naturalize foreign words (especially English), either with a direct translation or with a slight tweaking of the word to make the ending sound french (common with -or words: they get changed to -eur). This varies if one is considering "French", Franglish, or...

** '''Joual:''' Street French. Rougher in ways, a little more archaic, a little more mixed with other languages. Avoid discussing religious topics, as most of the strongest profanities are based on religious, particularly Catholic, iconology, rather than bodily functions as is true for English.

See also UsefulNotes/CanadianAccentInfluences for more technical details. Compare UsefulNotes/BritishAccents, KansaiRegionalAccent.

* '''Quebec French:''' If you understand that a taxi driver from the Bronx doesn't speak the same English as a Cambridge law professor, then you should understand that a Quebecois accountant and a Paris computer programmer wouldn't sound the same either. And no, they don't wear berets or walk around with baguettes under their arms in Montreal either. Quebec French at all social levels is very distinct from European French, probably more distinct than Bronx English vs. upper class British English. Quebec French is mostly derived from the Norman-French spoke by the pioneers, which ressembles French for the most part, but has its own share of unique words, which are used interchangably with their French equivalent ("y'a"/"il a", "a'a"/"elle a", ""chu"/"je suis", etc.) and puts less enphasis on voyel quality. Since Parisian French has mostly replaced other dialects in France, these distinctions often come as a surprise to French speakers from European countries. Has some degree of [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], as some people say "là"("there") at the end of each sentence. Contrarily to France, Quebec french speakers tend to naturalize foreign words (especially English), either with a direct translation or with a slight tweaking of the word to make the ending sound french (common with -or words: they get changed to -eur). This varies if one is considering "French", Franglish, or...

* '''Newfoundland English:''' Not just an accent, but an actual dialect in its full form. If an accent is recognized by a non-Canadian, it'll be this one; even Quebecois French may be mistaken for Continental French, but "Newfunese" or "Newfie" is a class all its own. Pronounciation, words and even grammar are different from anywhere else, even the Maritime provinces. Think a stereotypical pirate/sailor accent, with fewer "arr"s, the addition of rounding the long-"i" (so "Mike" sounds like "Moike") and unusual constructions like "That was some boring" instead of "That was very boring." "Whaddya at?" is ''the'' archetypal greeting. In conversation, every sententce will end in "b'y" (boy) or "dear" depending the gender of the person being spoken too. See Rick Mercer for a "townie" St. John's accent, or the movie ''The Shipping News'' for reasonable rendered "bay" accents. Linguistically, English in North America is divided between Newfoundland...and everywhere else.\\

Much ado is made of the Quebecois nationalism, so the French accent tends to crop up when filling roles matching the "rude to foreigners" shtick. If this is not the case, they are filling one of two roles: domestic terrorist (less common in these tense days) or substitute Frenchman stereotype, with drinking, carousing, and cigarette-smoking in quantity. Keep in mind the Quebec journalist who criticized the late French president UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle for calling the Quebecois the "French of America." What De Gaulle didn't understand, the journalist said, is that "Quebecois are actually Americans who speak French."\\

Newfs are funny, if one goes by the sheer number of them doing comedy on Canadian television; stereotypically, they fill many of the roles that the Irish do for British TV, or anything in the "uneducated but canny" range of roles. In recent years, thanks in part to ''ThisHourHas22Minutes'', the accent is also associated with a sharp-tongued jab about to hit. Indeed, Newfoundlanders, and Maritimers in general, seem somewhat overrepresented in Canadian comedy in no small part due to ''ThisHourHas22Minutes'' and other Canadian comedy shows produced in the region. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9NEwFpVWjE Here's an example.]]\\

Two cases where a Canadian accent was lampooned are with Bob & Doug [=McKenzie=] from ''SCTV'', and in ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', where the entire UsefulNotes/UnitedNations laughs at the accent of the Canadian ambassador.

See also CanadianAccentInfluences for more technical details. Compare BritishAccents, KansaiRegionalAccent.

* '''Quebec French:''' If you understand that a taxi driver from the Bronx doesn't speak the same English as a Cambridge law professor, then you should understand that a Quebecois accountant and a Paris computer programmer wouldn't sound the same either. And no, they don't wear berets or walk around with baguettes under their arms in Montreal either. Quebec French at all social levels is very distinct from European French, probably more distinct than Bronx English vs. upper class British English. Quebec French developed over a long period of separation, with a strong influence from pioneers who in turn were influence by trading with First Nations peoples. Has some degree of [[VerbalTic Verbal Tics]], as some people say "là"("there") at the end of each sentence. Other Quebecismes include 'chu' (replacing 'je suis') and 'maudits Torontois' (take a guess). It is also influenced by the fact that most of the French settlers were from Normandy and mostly not from the upper classes, so Quebecois French isn't quite as strict about class distinctions as formal French. Contrarily to France, Quebec french speakers tend to naturalize foreign words (especially English), either with a direct translation or with a slight tweaking of the word to make the ending sound french (common with -or words: they get changed to -eur). This varies if one is considering "French", Franglish, or...

For many, the distinctions between AmericanAccents and Canadian accents is marginal at best... a fact which many casting managers rely on, when filming north of the 49th Parallel for [[CaliforniaDoubling shows ostensibly set in the States]]. However, when it becomes relevant -- or when [[OohMeAccentsSlipping someone is not quite there]], acting wise -- certain things can be determined, eh?

There is noticeable pronunciation differences by which each speaker calls the name of his or her respective city. People from Edmonton generally omit the "d" in their city's name, making it sound more like "Eh-mon-ten". Calgary is pronounced by people native to the city with an /ə/, or omit the second "a" altogether, making the name sound like "Cal-guh-ry" or simply "Cal-g-ry", instead of "Cal-gah-ry", used elsewhere in the country. Saskatoon is pronounced as "Sask-toon" by its native residents, omitting the "a" (or, in some cases, eliminating the first two syllables altogether, turning it into "S'toon"). People from Regina (generally pronounced /rɨˈdʒaɪnə/) are inclined to pronounce the first vowel as an [ə]. People from cities with longer names tend to shorten their city's name to a single syllable, as in the case of Lloydminster (Lloyd), Swift Current (Swift), Medicine Hat (Hat), Lethbridge (Leth), Prince Albert (P.A.) etc. With regards to provincial names, Albertans tend to lessen the emphasis on the "al" in Alberta, making the province's name sound like "ul-ber-ta". Saskatchewan residents pronounce the "wan" as /wɨn/ instead of /wɑːn/, which is used in central and eastern Canada.

Generally, what everyone recognizes as generic "Canadian" is the accent found in Western and Central Canada. This is very similar to General American, or "Newscaster" English - in fact, given how much regional variation there is in the United States, the average Canadian probably sounds a lot more like a newscaster than the average American! The two major features that distinguish it are "Canadian raising" and the "Canadian shift". Also, we tend to refer to the letter 'z' as 'zed', [[CanadaEh and may add 'eh?']] to the end of our sentences (per the cliché).

* ''Dugout:'' a small, artificial (or artificially-deepened) body of water, often dug to provide soil for road construction. Mostly used in Alberta due to its climate, a Chinook refers to a warm winter wind that causes sudden increase in temperature (20–30 degrees in a matter of an hour or two)

* ''Shinny:'' A form of casual or "pick-up" ice hockey. A semi or semi-truck is a large trailer used for the transportation of mostly industrial goods. May Long is a regionalism to refer to the long weekend for Victoria Day every May.

* ''Chauch:'' A slang term generally referring to young men who work out and attempt to dress well but are ultimately, not classy. (In 1970s Ontario, "chauch" meant attractive young women, normally heard in the expression "Nice chauch". The word was both singular and plural.) header, gooder, giver (mostly Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, although this is also used in parts of the United States): As in, to leave, it was great, give it all (or alternatively, to leave), respectively. Slang term used for men's briefs – 'Gotch' or 'Gotchies' in Saskatchewan, 'Gonch' elsewhere. Gitch in Manitoba.

* ''Drive truck'' Common in Fort [=McMurray=] and similar oil-based towns, to drive truck refers to having a job either as a long distance truck driver or driving a heavy haul truck on an oil sands mining operation, depending on the context or the region in which it is used. The phrasing is similar to that used in Newfoundland accents and likely results from the high number of Newfoundlanders and Maritimers who travel to these cities for work.