It is played on a 12 x 12 board and the rules are somewhat different from our Checkers. It is played with cylindric pieces that are piled 2-high to indicate a promoted piece. The main differences between our pawns and the Canadian game are that an unpromoted piece may capture backwards or forwards and that a promoted piece has greater powers. I call the promoted pieces 'queens'. The French word is dame.
Some players call it cochon.
I call the unpromoted piece a 'pawn'. The French word is pion. I use the word 'piece' to mean pawn or queen. In Voir Clar aux Dames they give a list of 20 rules which are restated below. They also describe the standard notation.