Looks like last year our province struggled with COLOUR / COLOR
One of the last things reviewed as we enter the new year is a look at the most misspelled words in Canada.
While Nova Scotia struggled with colour, our neighbours on Prince Edward Island had the most difficulty with NEIGHBOUR / NEIGHBOR and then the province closest to us, New Brunswick could not hide their difficulty with CAMOUFLAGE, that was their most misspelled word.
Here is the report from the research conducted by WordUnscrambler.pro :
Analysis of Google search data for 2025 reveals the most misspelled words for Canada.
Canada’s most misspelled words:
1. Colour – 93 600 searches – Both colour and color are correct.
2. License – 68 400 searches.
3. Favourite – 56 400 searches – Both favourite and favorite are correct.
4. Weird – 48 000 searches.
5. Jewellery – 42 000 searches.
6. Business – 40 800 searches.
7. Diarrhea – 36 000 searches – Both diarrhea and diarrhoea are correct.
8. Definitely – 33 600 searches.
9. Neighbor – 30 000 searches – Both neighbor and neighbour are correct.
10. Honour – 27 600 searches- Both honour and honor are correct.
11. Behaviour – 22 800 searches – Both behaviour and behavior are correct.
12. Maintenance – 21600 searches.
Canada’s most misspelled words by region:
· Yukon Territory – Behaviour.
· British Columbia – Indigenous.
· Nova Scotia – Color.
· Prince Edward Island – Neighbor.
· Ontario – Business.
· Alberta – Silly. color
· Northwest Territories – Definitely.
· Manitoba – Perogies.
· Saskatchewan – Business.
· Newfoundland and Labrador – Though.
· Nunavut – Favourite.
· New Brunswick – Camouflage.
· Quebec – Color.
A spokesperson for WordUnscrambler.pro commented on the findings: “Surprisingly most Canada’s misspelled word searches are not errors in spelling but alternative standard forms of British vs American English. We found that many searches revolved around how to spell words in Canada, America, UK and Australia. Words like colour, favourite, neighbour and behaviour reflect British English spellings while their American counterparts(color, favorite, neighbor, behavior) are also as correct. People seem to be unsure which spelling standard to use in formal English. Several commonly searched words like business, definitely and necessary are frequently misspelled because English spelling does not consistently match pronunciation. Then there are tricky words like ‘weird’ (breaks the common ‘i before e’ rule). Availability of autocorrect in all devices results in misspelling common words. Studies suggest heavy reliance on autocorrect weakens spelling skills over time. Some researchers call it digital amnesia. We simply forget things that we delegate to technology. Misspellings might be on the rise not because we know less, but because we need to know less.”
