Having conceded 44 points in four wins to open the season, the Spirit leaked 51 to the ruthless red and blacks under the roof to drop to third place behind Canterbury and Auckland.
The match was evenly balanced in the opening 20 minutes, before Otago began falling off tackles and a flurry of Canterbury tries all but put the game to bed by halftime.
Pivot Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali put Otago up 5-0 in the fourth minute after outstanding captain Angie Sisifa busted Canterbury open from 22m out and fed her inside.
Otago then enjoyed a couple of sustained passages inside the Canterbury 22m, but poor ball retention let the red and blacks off the hook.
Outstanding Canterbury halfback Kendra Cocksedge cut Otago open all afternoon, and she set her side's first try up after she caught Otago napping around the fringes of the ruck.
Sisifa and prop Gemma Tuhega sparked another Otago raid inside the Canterbury 22m, before a costly intercept ended its chances.
Canterbury swiftly caught Otago napping down the left hand flank and Ryan Lucy raced 50m to score the first of a three-try blitz to open up a 31-5 Canterbury lead at the half.
Spirit coach John Hyde was pleased with the start Otago made but conceded his side was beaten by a well-drilled team.
''They set the benchmark for us, which is good. We now know what we need to do. We have got a couple of tough games coming up against Waikato and Auckland,'' he said.
''We would rather have won it, but to lose to a side that is up there at the top of the table, we would rather have it now than later on.''
Spirit centre Greer Muir had an outstanding game, splitting Canterbury open on several occasions, only for a lack of support to leave her stranded.
''Maybe it was players not reacting quickly enough to players making breaks, and that comes down to a bit of anticipation ... we need to make sure we have someone on Greer's shoulder,'' Hyde said.
The table-topping Cantabrians did not waste any time adding to their tally in the second half when Keshia Grant found a gaping hole to waltz through after a period of play inside the Otago 22m.
The home side responded with a try inside the right-hand flag, through Claire Richardson, a few minutes later, before Kristina Moata'ane carried a few defenders over for Otago's third try, making it 43-15 after 63 minutes.
After conceding more than half a ton on the scoreboard and losing its first game, Otago had plenty of work to do before hosting Waikato in two weeks, Hyde said.
''We were a bit guilty of rushing up and they got outside us. You give them a couple of metres and they are gone, and that's what happened.
''We lost the ball in contact or the last pass didn't work. There's some work to do going forward, that's for sure.''
Otago has a bye this weekend before fourth placed Waikato come to town.
The Spirit will then finish its season with games against defending champion Auckland and Manawatu.
By Robert van Royen.
Otago v Canterbury
The scores
Canterbury 51
Charntay Poku 2, Lucy Ryan 2, Kendra Cocksedge, Keshia Grant, Tara Horsnell tries; Cocksedge 5 con, pen, Tara Horsnell pen
Otago 15
Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali, Claire Richardson, Kristina Moata'ane tries.
Halftime: Canterbury 31-5.
