Resume Language-Canada

To the extent that you can, Canadianize your English on your resume (Canadian version of CV) and in your covering letter.

The table below indicates words and expressions to be aware of. The table includes not only words that are relevant to writing a resume but also words that you may encounter later in the job hunting process, when you receive directions to an interview, much later when you negotiate annual leave, and so on.

British English	Canadian English	Comment
grey	grey	American gray is widely accepted.
labour	labour	American labor is widely accepted.
centre	centre	American center is widely accepted.
organise	organize
rationalise	rationalize
specialise	specialize
realise	realize
travelled	travelled	American traveled is widely accepted.
labelled	labelled	American labeled is widely accepted.
tyre	tire
aluminium	aluminum
orientated	oriented
preventative	preventive
programme	program	You still come across programme in Canadian government publications dating back several years.
licence	licence	American license is widely used.
bespoke	customized
go on holiday	go on vacation	In Canada, 'holiday' generally refers to a public holiday, and 'the holidays' to the time around Christmas.
annual leave	annual leave, vacation allowance
advert	ad	In responding to a newspaper ad(vert), you should use the full word, advertisement.
lift	elevator
ground floor	first floor, main floor, ground floor
first floor	second floor
rubbish	garbage
hire (a person)	hire
hire (a thing)	rent
21 March, 2007	March 21, 2007
21/3/07	3/21/07
fortnight	two weeks	Fortnight is not a common expression in Canada. Many Canadians do not even know what it means. Bi-weekly is a poor substitute for fortnightly, because it can mean twice a week or once every two weeks. The only way to be clear in your meaning is to say, "once every two weeks."
mobile	cell	abbreviation for cellular phone
phone (verb)	call
post	mail
whilst	while	Whilst sounds old fashioned to the Canadian ear.
	Yours truly	The most formal closing, the one that generally is used in your first contact, e.g., a response to a job advertisement.
	Yours sincerely	Still considered to be polite, but a notch less formal than "Yours truly." You might use "Yours sincerely" when the relationship starts out on a slightly warmer footing. "Your sincerely" is a closing you might consider if, for example, you have received a referral. More widely used is "Sincerely"
	Best regards	A friendly closing that you can use once you are beyond the preliminary level of communication.
	Numbers	Numbers up to ten usually are written out in full. Thereafter, numbers usually are expressed as digits. So 4 years of experience would be four years, but 23 years of experience would remain 23 years. A number over ten that can be expressed as a single word (twenty, fifty, etc.) may be written as a word or as a number, as you prefer.
Referees	References

Language is only one element of a resume. It would be useful for you to read the other Wiki articles related to Canadian Resumes, to assist you in getting all the other pieces into place.