Frequently asked questions include:
General Congress questions
Congress policies
Presenting at Congress
Programs and events
Registration fees
Registration questions
Virtual platform
Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is Canada’s largest gathering of academics, and one of the largest in the world. It’s a place to hold critical conversations of our time, hear from a diverse set of voices, share findings, refine ideas, and build partnerships to help share the Canada of tomorrow. Go to the About Congress page to learn more.
May 27 to June 2 – Congress 2023 will take place at York University.
The Congress 2023 theme is "Reckonings and Re-imaginings."
Read more about the Congress 2023 theme.
Congress 2023 will take place in person at York University and will offer remote participation components for participants joining virtually.
Please reach out to your association for further information on their association conference offerings.
Select open programming at Congress, including Big Thinking lectures, will be available for viewing remotely via live stream or on-demand on the Congress virtual platform. Further information about the virtual platform and virtual access for open programming will be available in spring 2023.
Visit the Igniting Change page and read the Federation Action Plan for more information. Updates on how we’re making Congress more accessible can be found on the Accessibility page. You can also read our website accessibility statement.
Participating associations will be listed on the Association conferences page.
Future Congress hosts and locations will be announced soon.
Check out the Resource hub or the Blog to rediscover the research presented at past Congresses.
If you are interested in supporting this year’s Congress, feel free to contact us at expo@federationhss.ca. Visit the Expo page to download our prospectus for a variety of opportunities. Our team is excited to connect with you to customize an option that works best for you!
To ensure a safe Congress experience for all attendees, Congress 2023 will follow the recommendations of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, as outlined by York University. For more information on campus safety protocols, visit www.yorku.ca/bettertogether/.
Member associations may set additional policies for their annual conference. Please contact your association for more information.
We work actively to foster a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive global community of scholars and practitioners, and are therefore dedicated to the creation of a safe, respectful, and collegial experience for all attendees of Congress.
Yes, your information is secure.
Cyberbullying is real, and seven per cent of Canadians experience it personally, according to Statistics Canada. If you are the victim of online harassment or bullying, there are resources available to you, and Congress organizers encourage you to use them. See the Royal Canadian Mounted Police website resources or the Government of Canada site on How to prevent cyberbullying.
To present at Congress, please approach your scholarly association and inquire directly about their call-for-papers process. Browse the list of associations participating in Congress.
Yes, the payment of both the Congress fee and the association conference fee is mandatory for all attendees including presenter, speakers, panelists, organizers, and those moderating/chairing or attending a session. Read more about the Congress fees.
Yes, three programs are available. See the Funding page.
You can find your association’s program from the Associations conference page. Select your association to find details about your association’s conference, including call-for-paper deadlines, conference programs, conference organizers and open events. Draft and final versions of programs will be posted there as they become available in spring of 2023.
The calendar of open events lists all open programming, including the Big Thinking series, and associations’ open sessions. You can attend these events, regardless of your registration category.
Here’s a list of calendar features:
- Events are listed in chronological order from today’s date. You can control whether 10, 50, 100 or all events are listed per page.
- For a simple search, type in a keyword such as a speaker’s name or date.
- To narrow search results, filter by series or theme, language or host association.
- When you have entered all of your search criteria, click “Search” to see the results.
- Click “Reset” to clear your search criteria or to begin a new search.
- You can click on the event title or host organization to learn more about each.
You can attend all open Congress programming regardless of your registration category. These events are listed in the calendar of open events. If you’ve paid to attend an association conference, you also have access to this association’s sessions. Find out more about categories of registration.
All the events listed in the calendar of open events are open to the public. Members of the public must purchase a community pass to access Congress open events. Find out more about categories of registration.
Learn more about Congress registration fees on the Register page.
The Congress fees and association conference fees vary depending on your registration category (regular, retired, student, unwaged, etc.) and the date upon which you register.
To receive the best discount, register with the early bird rate before March 31. Rates increase on April 1 (regular rate).
The general Congress fee covers access to open events including Federation programming (Big Thinking, Career Corner, etc.), as well as association events, sponsored events, and exhibitor events. The association conference fee covers access to that specific association conference.
Review the descriptions of the Congress fees and the association conference fees.
For 2023, we are offering complimentary access for Black and Indigenous students. If you are attending an association conference at Congress and are a student who self-identifies as Black or Indigenous, your Congress fee is waived. Contact your association for your unique registration link.
Please note, a complimentary Congress fee does not waive your association conference fee. Check with your association to see if they are waiving your association conference fee or offering a fee discount.
If you are purchasing a community pass to attend open events only and you self-identify as Black or Indigenous, your community pass is complimentary.
Questions? Contact congress@federationhss.ca.
Yes. The association conference fee is not your membership fee.
All attendees are required to pay the association’s conference fee to attend or participate at Congress. The association conference fees are collected by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences on behalf of the associations for Congress.
Membership fees are paid directly to your association. For information about your association’s membership, contact your association directly.
You can register for Congress 2023 as of January 2023 until June 2, 2023.
The early bird deadline is March 31, 2023. Rates increase on April 1 (regular rate).
Visit the Register page and follow the instructions. When you register, a user account will automatically be created for you. The email address that you use to register will be your username and you will be prompted to create a password. If you are registering a group of attendees, you’ll need a unique email address for each attendee.
If you have registered for any event organized by the Federation since 2019, you can use your email address and password associated with your profile you provided the last time you registered for an event or completed a form. If you’ve forgotten your password, select the “reset password” link and you’ll receive an email to reset your password. Please check your junk/spam/quarantine folder for your reset password email.
You will receive an email from the registration system with a link to return to your “incomplete registration form”. Be sure to check your junk/spam/quarantine folders if you don't receive it shortly.
If you haven’t received this email, return to the Congress 2023 registration system and click "modify your existing 2023 registration" to return to your incomplete registration.
Before connecting with us, please complete the following steps:
- Ensure that all required fields on the form, marked with a red asterick (*), are filled in. You must provide a response to these fields to proceed to the next page of the form and to complete and submit your form.
- Make sure that credit card payment information is entered correctly. If you receive an error, verify with your bank whether your card allows online payments.
- Check that JavaScript is enabled on your web browser and that your browser is up-to-date. It is recommended that you use Google Chrome for the best user experience.
If you are still experiencing issues, contact congress@federationhss.ca.
Go to the Register page, click the Register button, then once redirected click “Modify your existing registration” or click on the link in your confirmation email. Enter your email address (username) and the password you created to access your registration, and then make the necessary changes or additions.
Go to the Register page, click the Register button, then once redirected click “ Modify your existing registration”. Enter your username and password to access your account, and then click on “Refund request” from the navigation bar.
We accept cancellations up until April 15, 2023, subject to a $45 administration fee. Unfortunately, no refunds are possible after this date.
We accept cancellations up until April 15, 2023, subject to a $45 administration fee. Unfortunately, no refunds are possible after this date.
Visa, Visa Debit, MasterCard, MasterCard Debit and AMEX credits cards are all acceptable online payment methods.
No*, you do not need to be a member of an association to attend an association conference at Congress, but you will need to pay their conference fee. The association conference fees are generally higher for non-members. If you wish to become a member, you should contact the association prior to registering.
There is a platform tour video on the homepage that can be viewed anytime.
An email with login information and instructions will be sent May 25. If you did not receive this email, please reach out to congress@federationhss.ca to verify your registration.
First, ensure you’re trying to login via the email address you registered for Congress with. If this does not work, please contact Live Support.
You can reset your password by clicking “Don't know your password? Click here to reset it.” on the login page of the virtual platform. Don’t forget to check your spam or junk folders for the recovery email.
On the top right-hand corner of every webpage, there is a language option. Click ‘English’ or ‘Français’ to choose between English and French.
You can access the open event sessions at any time by selecting “Programme” on the main navigation bar at the top of your screen, and clicking “Open events”.
Navigate over over the tab “Programme > Associations” in the main navigation bar and search your association to access their conference. If you get lost on the virtual platform, click the “Live Support” button at the top right of your screen to connect with a help desk representative.
Click on the little hearts in each session tile. If you want to find them, simply use the “My Agenda” filter.
Accessibility has been embedded within the platform to accommodate accessibility tools, such as screen readers, to be functional when used by an attendee. Closed captioning, simultaneous interpretation, and sign language interpretation will also be offered during certain sessions. Look for references under each session.
Each session description will display available accessibility provisions.
We advise you to use a laptop or desktop computer and access the virtual platform on Google Chrome. If you have access to a hardwired internet connection (especially if you are a presenter), this will help to prevent any lags in your video or audio while in a Zoom session.
Click ‘Update timezone’ at the top of the events calendar.
At the lower right-hand corner of every webpage, you can connect with live support by clicking on “Live Support”.
At the beginning of each session, the chair/moderator will inform you if the session is being recorded for archival purposes. If it is being recorded and you do not wish to be recorded, please leave your camera and microphone off for the duration of the session.
At the bottom of your association agenda page is an “On Demand” section. Past sessions will show up here. An on Demand button will also be available once the recording is ready to be viewed. You can also filter by “On demand” to quickly find these past or on demand sessions.
It is not mandatory but highly recommended to ensure you can access your open events and conference sessions on time. Sign-up for your free account now. Ensure you have downloaded the most up-to-date version of Zoom as there are regularly new versions.
Visit http://zoom.us/test and follow the prompts.
Close or turn off other programs that utilize your camera. You can also restart your computer to refresh all applications. If the issues continue, you can uninstall your current version of Zoom and reinstall the latest version from Zoom’s Download Center. If all else fails, you can visit your device’s support and downloads page to update the camera driver. If you need a little help, reach out to Live Support on the virtual platform and they will attempt to troubleshoot your issue as well.
Generally, if you are hearing echo, it means that a participant is not muted and causing your device to channel their audio back into your speakers. All participants should be on mute unless they are speaking. If you notice that an attendee is not on mute, alert the Event Technician by privately messaging them in Zoom chat.