In 1967, the family moved to Winnipeg, where her father took an administrative job with the dental school at the University of Manitoba.
Katherine's mother Patricia (née Clarke) taught English at the local high school.
In 1991 Barber was hired by Oxford University Press Canada to compile the country’s first comprehensive dictionary.
Barber led a comprehensive search for "Canadianisms," looking not only through literature and newspapers but also advertisements, magazines and paperback romances.
[5] Starting in 2008, she was the sole proprietor of Tours en l'air Ballet Holidays, which organized ballet-themed trips to North American and European destinations.