First published by Oxford University Press Canada in 1998, it became a well-known reference for Canadian English.
The second edition, published in 2004, contains about 300,000 entries, including about 2,200 true Canadianisms.
It also provides information on Canadian pronunciation and on Canadian spelling, which has features of both British and American spelling: colour, centre, and travelling, but tire, aluminum, and realize, resulting in combinations such as colourize.
Until September 2008, Oxford maintained a permanent staff of lexicographers in Canada, led by editor Katherine Barber.
With its Canadian dictionary division closed, Oxford has since been outsourcing work on Canadian dictionary products to freelance editors.