I appreciate the compliment, Sunspace, but you’ve said pretty much what I would have said–except for the minor bunfight at your job, of course.
If I had to take a stand, I’d say that typically, Canadian written English tends closer to the American than the British. Yes, we are taught and do use the extra “u” (colour, harbour, rumour), and the “re” (theatre, centre), and certain other non-American spellings (cheque). But for the most part, we avoid any British spellings that are too far from what our American friends use (tyre, kerb). We also largely follow American vocabulary–our cars have hoods and trunks instead of bonnets and boots. We’ll go “to hospital” or “to the hospital” as our audience understands and/or demands. These are very simple examples, and there are many more, but they should give a good overview of how Canadian writers approach the written language.
As for references, there are various Canadian English dictionaries out there, and I myself turn to the Canadian Oxford when I need to. But unless you’re editing a purely Canadian document (a Canadian newspaper or textbook, for example), you’re probably going to be using American spelling and a style guide out of the USA. I’ve used the Globe and Mail Style Guide as well as the Canadian Press Style Guide in the past for pure Canadian stuff, but I’ve used my Chicago Manual far more often. Indeed, I once landed a freelance writing job based on my familiarity with Chicago. Why? Because I could “write American.” I have to be able to; the market here in Canada is too small to do otherwise. This is the practical reality, with the US as our largest trading partner, and generally the first foreign place Canadian companies expand, and often the market that outstrips our own, we’ll supply what the US wants.
So for this reason, we usually use American style guides if we’re writing anythng that will eventully reach the USA. Chicago, as I mentioned, was popular in a number of places I worked; APA is often used for academic writing, although Chicago usually works just as well. I never worked anywhere MLA was used, though I did hear of places that used it and do have my own copy just in case. Still, the key is versatility, and being able to write in the way that your market expects and/or demands. If my client is American, I can write the American way (including spelling). If my client is British, I can write the British way (including spelling). Learning and using both, and referring to whatever dictionaries and style guides are called for, seems to be the reality for Canadian writers and editors.
