Canada

Canada: Linguists Urge Mark Carney to Drop British Spellings

Does British spelling erase Canada's linguistic identity, or does it preserve etymological integrity against American pressure?

Published DEC 17 2025

Canada: Linguists Urge Mark Carney to Drop British Spellings

Story

Above: Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 5. Image credit: Hector Vivas/FIFA/Getty Images

The Facts

A group of six linguists and editors sent an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Dec. 11, requesting his government stop using British spellings in official documents and return to Canadian English spelling conventions.
GZERO Media
Newser
It cited examples of British spellings such as "utilisation," "globalisation," and "catalyse" appearing in government communications, including the 2025 federal budget and an October news release following Carney's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
CTV News
Guardian
The Oxford English Dictionary recognizes Canadian English as a distinctive national variety that evolved through Loyalist settlement after the American Revolutionary War and later immigration, blending British and U.S. influences with French and Indigenous terms.
El Balad
CBC
The linguists stated that Canadian spelling has been used consistently in federal and provincial government communications since the 1970s and warned that using other spelling systems "could lead to confusion" about which spelling is authentically Canadian.
The Epoch Times
CTV News
Mark Carney served as governor of the Bank of England for seven years from 2013 to 2020, making him the only foreigner to hold that position, which some linguists suggest may have influenced his adoption of British spelling conventions upon returning to Canada.
The New York Times
The Peak
The letter's signatories argued that maintaining Canadian English spelling in government documents is "the simplest way to take an 'elbows up' stance," referencing the rallying cry Canadians have adopted in response to diplomatic and economic tensions with the U.S.
CTV News
Independent

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Prime Minister Carney's imposition of British spellings on official Canadian documents marks a troubling erasure of Canadian linguistic identity that has evolved organically over 150 years. Canadian English reflects the nation's unique history — blending British, American and Indigenous influences into conventions that linguists describe as "broadminded" and distinctly Canadian. Abandoning established spellings like "organize" and "recognize" for British variants undermines national pride and creates confusion.

National Post

Slashdot

Narrative B

Language naturally evolves through cultural contact and neither British nor American spelling is inherently "wrong," they simply represent different evolutionary paths from common roots. British spelling preserves historical connections to borrowed words from multiple languages, maintaining etymological integrity that American simplifications discard. The irritation comes not from spelling differences themselves but from Americans insisting their streamlined versions are the only correct forms.