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This is our smallest species of Cabera, and although variable, is duskier and darker than the other species. The ground colour is a dull beige, with variable amounts of dark chestnut-brown speckling. The PM line is usually distinct, and males have a broad, dark marginal band which is absent in females. Resembles some Scopula species more than other Cabera, but Scopula have irregular or wavy transverse lines and often have discal spots, which are absent in C. borealis. The type locality of this species is given as "near Calgary" by McGuffin (1981).

Adults fly on sunny afternoons in and near wet spruce bogs and moist open conifer woods; they are not known to come to light. The flight season coincides with the time the spruce bud scales are cast off (McGuffin 1981). The moth rests with its wings held upright, unlike other Cabera. Eggs are laid on the underside of host leaves and hatch in about two weeks. The pale-striped, yellow-green larva matures in about four weeks, and the pupa overwinters (McGuffin 1981).