Focused gatherings bringing advocates and changemakers from across the humanities and social sciences together to tackle timely issues with depth and impact.
About Big Thinking Summits
Big Thinking Summits offer selective events that concentrate on key issues and timely topics. Each convening brings a focused group of participants into a setting that prioritizes depth over scale, fostering informed exchange and actionable insights. Positioned at the intersection of research and policy, the Summits create strategic spaces where expertise and collaboration drive actionable solutions.
Edmonton Convention Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, June 9 to 11.
The Federation’s Big Thinking Summit: Inflection Point brought the humanities and social sciences (HSS) to the forefront.
McMaster University, Hamilton - October 15-16, 2025
Graduate education in Canada is navigating a period of significant change, driven by evolving funding models, shifting academic career pathways, and the growing demands of our innovation ecosystems. Ensuring graduate student perspectives are part of these conversations is essential to shaping the future.
To this end, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, and the Canadian Collaborative for Society, Innovation and Policy convened this Summit to define priorities and strategies for a National Strategy for Graduate Education, grounded in evidence and informed by cross-sector collaboration.
The two-day program included catalyst roundtables, facilitated deliberations, a keynote, and a closing panel on the future of graduate education in Canada. Speakers included Fahim Quadir, Jackie Pichette, Jessica Riddell, Mike DeGagné, Annie Pilote, Robert Luke, Barrington Walker, Sandra Boisvert, and Tim Wilson.
The inaugural Big Thinking Summit, held June 3–4 during Congress 2025 at George Brown College in Toronto, brought together leaders from colleges, institutes, and universities to strengthen connections and advance cross-sector solutions to Canada’s most pressing challenges. Inspired by the theme Reframing togetherness, the two-day forum called on the sector to embrace shared responsibility and collaborative action in an era of rapid change. Through candid dialogue and collective visioning, participants explored how a stronger, unified voice for the humanities and social sciences can help shape Canada’s future.
Speakers:
- Gervan Fearon (George Brown College)
- Jacqueline Ottmann (First Nations University of Canada)
- Pari Johnston (Colleges and Institutes Canada – CICan)
- Gabriel Miller (Universities Canada)
- Karine Morin (Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences)
- Krista Pawley (Wavemakers / Imperative Impact / SingularityU Canada)
- Val Walker (BHER); Taki Sarantakis (Canada School of Public Service)
- Alex Usher (Higher Education Strategy Associates)
Explore a recap of the event:
Stronger together: Post-secondary education in times of upheaval
