[2][3] Its specific name is derived from the Latin word hemiophrys, meaning eyebrow, which refers to its pronounced cranial crest between and behind the eyes.

[4] Anaxyrus hemiophrys displays the typical toad characteristics: it lacks a tail and teeth, it has a horizontal pupil, and its dry skin is thick and warty.

Fully grown adult males are usually 5.6 to 6.9 cm (2.2–2.7 in), while females are a little bigger between the ranges of 5.6 and 7.9 cm (2.2–3.1 in)[5] and they weigh between 35 and 55 g.[6] Their colouring is described by Cope (1886) as "brown, marked on the back with a median yellowish line, and two to three rows of brown spots of medium size on each side of it.

Posterior to that level they flare laterally to join the postorbital crests, delimiting the anterolateral edge of the postcoronal plane.

Cope determined that the Anaxyrus hemiophrys differs from most of the other North American "Bufo" species because of the lack of postorbital crests and in having spots on its belly.

It is a relict population that is believed to be a remnant from when the Anaxyrus hemiophrys, or its ancestors, range was larger.

[15] The range of territory covered by Anaxyrus hemiophrys is fairly large although it has been shown to be declining in southern regions of Alberta.

[16] In Canada Anaxyrus hemiophrys' range extends from a small southern patch in the Northwest Territories down through eastern and central Alberta.

The tadpoles of Anaxyrus hemiophrys eat plant debris and other nutrients found in the waters in which they were spawned by way of suspension feeding.

The adult Canadian toad's diet is mainly insects, the most important being Coleoptera (beetles) and Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies).

[19] This setting provides some shelter for the eggs by helping to prevent water flow from washing them away and it provides nutrients for the tadpoles when they hatch.

Adult Anaxyrus hemiophrys can be found living near lakes, streams, irrigation ditches and wetlands.