We’re happy to meet you and extend a warm Canadian handshake, whether you’re joining us from the Atlantic shores, the Prairies, the North, the Pacific coast, or from anywhere else you call home. Canada is a country of many voices, stories, and traditions, and the Canadian English Guide celebrates the language that helps connect them all.
On This Page
- Our Symbol
- The Story Behind the Masthead
- A Brief Timeline
- Building the Guide
- A Living Resource
- Who Is Behind the Canadian English Guide?
- A Note on Technology
The Canadian English Guide was created to document, preserve, and explain the language Canadians write and speak every day.
Canadian English occupies a unique place in the English-speaking world. Influenced by British tradition, North American usage, Indigenous languages, French heritage, immigration, regional culture, journalism, education, and government, Canadian English has developed a character distinctly its own.
Our purpose is simple:
To help Canadians understand the words they use, the stories behind them, and the traditions that shaped them.
Whether you are a writer, student, editor, journalist, teacher, researcher, municipal official, historian, or simply someone curious about language, the Guide exists to provide practical, understandable, and distinctly Canadian information.
Our Symbol
The Canadian English Guide logo combines three simple ideas: Canada, guidance, and accumulated knowledge.
The outline of Canada establishes the national scope of the Guide while remaining secondary to the central symbol.
At the centre stands a fieldstone cairn.
For generations, cairns have helped travellers find their way. Built one stone at a time, they mark routes, preserve knowledge, and provide guidance to those who follow.
The cairn represents the Guide itself.
Each stone symbolizes a contribution: a word, an article, a Canadianism, a historical reference, a style guideline, or a piece of shared understanding added to the growing collection.
The highlighted gold foundation stone occupies the lower-right position within the cairn. Rather than symbolizing completion, it represents the newest contribution to an ever-growing resource. The Guide is never finished. It continues to expand through research, discovery, and the ongoing evolution of Canadian language.
The fieldstone character of the cairn was chosen intentionally. Rather than representing a monument, it reflects the stones gathered from generations of work, patience, stewardship, and cultivation. Like those stones, knowledge accumulates one piece at a time.
The Story Behind the Masthead
The masthead used by the Canadian English Guide did not begin as part of a language project.
Its origins can be traced to the loss of a long-standing local newspaper. When the West Elgin Chronicle ceased publication on July 2nd 2026 the community lost an important source of local news, information, and connection.
In the months that followed, discussions began around the possibility of creating a new community-focused publication. The goal was simple: preserve local stories, encourage community participation, and help reconnect readers with local issues and events.
On 7 July 2026, the concept was first discussed with Larry Schneider. The idea was left with him for consideration while he recovered from a recent fall and decided whether he wished to become involved.
On 20 September 2026, during a follow-up conversation, Larry Schneider confirmed that he was willing to write and participate. During that same discussion it became clear that the local Community Health Centre was also interested in seeing some form of community publication move forward.
As discussions continued, another initiative emerged with the resources, support, and ability to move forward more quickly. Their efforts ultimately provided the community with a newspaper at an important moment, when reliable local communication was especially valuable.
Although the original Newsette concept followed a different path than anticipated, the masthead itself survived.
Rather than allowing it to disappear, it was preserved and later adapted for the Canadian English Guide. Many of the values it originally represented remained equally important: communication, education, preservation, community, and the sharing of knowledge.
Today the masthead serves as a reminder that ideas sometimes evolve in unexpected ways. What was originally created for one purpose ultimately found its permanent home in another.
A Brief Timeline
7 July 2026
- The West Elgin Chronicle ceases publication.
7 July 2026
- Initial conversation with Larry Schneider regarding the possibility of a community publication.
20 September 2026
- Larry Schneider agrees to participate.
Autumn 2026
- Newsette planning workbooks, interview systems, evaluation tools, and community research frameworks are developed.
Autumn 2026
- Another newspaper initiative emerges and moves forward more quickly.
Autumn 2026
- The community once again receives a local newspaper.
October 2026
- The Canadian English Guide begins.
Building the Guide
The Canadian English Guide is not being built all at once.
Like the cairn at the centre of our symbol, it is being built one stone at a time.
One word.
One article.
One Canadianism.
One historical reference.
One explanation.
Every addition strengthens the resource and helps future visitors understand the language Canadians write, speak, and share every day.
Our goal is not simply to create a spelling guide.
Our goal is to build a practical Canadian resource that explores language, usage, writing, culture, history, and communication through a distinctly Canadian lens.
A Living Resource
The Canadian English Guide is intended to grow steadily over time.
New articles, word comparisons, Canadianisms, style references, writing resources, and historical language material will be added regularly as the project develops.
Some entries will answer practical questions about spelling and usage.
Others will explore the history, culture, and stories behind the words Canadians use every day.
What begins as a small collection of pages today is intended to become a lasting resource for writers, students, educators, journalists, historians, municipal officials, community organizations, and curious Canadians everywhere.
Like the cairn at the centre of our symbol, the Guide grows one contribution at a time.
Every article matters.
Every contribution adds another stone.
And every stone helps future travellers find their way.
Who Is Behind the Canadian English Guide?
Canadian English Guide was founded by Malcolm Henry Dilts of West Lorne, in the Municipality of West Elgin, Ontario, Canada.
The Guide represents the convergence of several lifelong interests: language, history, research, communication, technology, education, and the preservation of Canadian heritage.
From an early age, Malcolm developed an appreciation for the written word through newspaper and publication distribution, delivering newspapers and TV Guide directly to households at a time when the publication was not yet available in stores. Throughout his working life, he held a variety of positions in customer service, product distribution, warehouse management, technical support, automotive service management, electrical assistance, and multimedia development. These experiences reinforced the importance of clear communication, accurate information, practical problem solving, and presenting information in ways that people can readily understand and use.
Committed to lifelong learning, Malcolm returned to college as an adult and graduated with honours from Humber College’s Audio/Visual Multimedia Technician Specialist programme. His studies combined communications, media production, information presentation, and emerging technologies, skills that later found application in multimedia authoring, website development, and independent publishing projects.
Alongside his professional experience, Malcolm has maintained a longstanding commitment to volunteer and community service. He has served on volunteer boards and committees, including roles as Board Chair and Kiwanis Club President. These experiences strengthened his belief in education, public service, community involvement, and the value of sharing knowledge for the benefit of others.
A lifelong student of history, Malcolm has devoted considerable time to historical research, record preservation, and heritage projects. He previously served as an Assistant Church Historian, contributing to the collection, preservation, and organization of historical information for future generations. His interest in language was further encouraged by reading The History of English, a book that sparked a fascination with the development of language and the relationship between history, culture, and the written word.
Following the onset of illness, Malcolm’s occupational career came to an earlier close than expected. Rather than abandoning his interests, he redirected his time and energy toward research, learning, community service, and independent projects. Canadian English Guide emerged from those efforts and from a growing recognition that Canadians often encounter language resources rooted primarily in American or British standards, while practical Canadian-focused references can be difficult to find.
Canadian English Guide is founded on a simple belief: that Canadian English is an important part of Canada’s cultural heritage and deserves to be documented, explained, preserved, and shared. The Guide exists to help students, educators, writers, businesses, researchers, and curious readers better understand the unique characteristics of Canadian spelling, vocabulary, usage, and style.
Editorial commentary and selected feature content may be published under the pen name Alanson John Aaron, while official, legal, and administrative matters are conducted under Malcolm Henry Dilts’ legal name.
Canadian English Guide is an independent educational project and is not affiliated with any government agency, educational institution, publisher, or commercial language service.
A Note on Technology
Canadian English Guide was developed during a period of rapid advancement in artificial intelligence technologies. Throughout its planning and development, founder Malcolm Henry Dilts made extensive use of Microsoft Copilot and other digital tools as research, organizational, and creative aids.
Artificial intelligence assisted with brainstorming, research support, technical guidance, editing suggestions, layout concepts, project planning, workflow development, content organization, and the exploration of ideas. These tools often served as a sounding board, helping transform concepts, questions, and observations into structured plans and practical solutions.
The relationship, however, has always been collaborative rather than automated. Artificial intelligence did not create the vision for Canadian English Guide, select its direction, establish its values, or determine its purpose. Those responsibilities remain with the founder. Instead, the technology functioned as a research assistant, editor, technical advisor, and creative partner capable of helping explore possibilities, identify challenges, and accelerate development.
The founder believes that modern artificial intelligence, when used thoughtfully and responsibly, can help individuals pursue projects that might otherwise exceed their available time, resources, or technical expertise. Canadian English Guide stands as an example of how human curiosity, experience, and purpose can be combined with emerging technology to create educational resources intended to benefit others.
Copyright © 2026 Canadian English Guide
One Stone at a Time.