She was part of the team who set up the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 1st edition, in an online form.
Six years later, she received her Ph.D. in English with a linguistics emphasis from the University of California, Berkeley (1981) under the supervision of Julian C.
She joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, after completing her doctorate degree.
She served as a co-editor of the Journal of Historical Pragmatics alongside Dawn Archer from April 2013 to December 2014.
[citation needed] In June 2023, Brinton retired from the University of British Columbia,[11] where she is currently listed as Professor Emerita.