Federation news
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Learn, reflect, act
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, is an important opportunity to reflect on settler-colonialism in Canada, including the residential school system. We invite you to learn about the experiences and strengths of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and their enduring resistance to the ongoing impacts of colonization.
Explore these titles, authored by recipients of the Federation’s Scholarly Book Awards, to learn more and reflect on Truth and Reconciliation:
- By Strength, We Are Still Here – Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories by Crystal Gail Fraser
- Drumming Our Way Home – Intergenerational Learning, Teaching, and Indigenous Ways of Knowing by Georgina Martin
- Putting Down Roots - Métis Agency, Land Use, and Women’s Food Labour in a Qu’Appelle Valley Road Allowance Community by Cheryl Troupe
- Métis Music – Stories of Recognition and Resurgence by Monique Giroux
We invite you to explore these additional resources to support taking action towards Truth and Reconciliation:
- A decade of Disappointment: Reconciliation & the System of a Crown by Eva Jewell
- Radio-Canada présente Florent Vollant - Innu et souligne la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation (in French only)
- Ten Years Later: Measuring Progress – The Gord Downie & Charnie Wenjack Fund
- Une étudiante autochtone de l'UQO marque l'histoire (in French only)
- Confronting residential schools denialism is an ethical and shared Canadian responsibility
Call for submissions: Scholarly Book Awards Translation Grants
Planning to publish a scholarly book in translation? Did you know that the Scholarly Book Awards Translation Grant offers $30,000 to help cover translation and publication costs for English or French translations, with a dedicated grant available for Indigenous languages? Don’t miss this opportunity! Publishers and authors working with publishers can apply now before the October 15 deadline. Learn more.
Think forward: Our future, shaped by the humanities and social sciences
Building on our 2021 report, Think Big: How the Social Sciences and Humanities are Building a Better Canada, this new series examines how HSS disciplines are essential to shaping Canada's future, addressing emerging challenges, and fostering a more democratic and innovative society. With three installments coming through the fall, you’ll find resources designed to help you share, amplify, and advance the case for the HSS. Stay tuned.
Association conference support in 2026
Earlier this month, the Federation announced two conference support packages to help member associations plan their 2026 events in the absence of Congress. Developed from feedback from members, the packages are designed for flexibility and to respond to diverse needs. Learn more about our offerings.
The Federation’s strategic direction takes shape
Our proposed new strategic direction will be presented to the Federation’s Board of Directors on October 3. Following this milestone, the plan will be finalized and integrated into our work, with a full launch to our community in the months ahead. This next phase marks an important step in charting a clear, collective path for the Federation’s, and our community's future.
Coalition for Canadian research’s open letter
On September 25, the Federation joined the Coalition for Canadian research in issuing an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The letter calls on the federal government to honour its 2024 commitments to strengthen scholarships, fellowships, and the core budgets of Canada’s granting councils. It stresses that protecting research funding during the ongoing spending review is essential to securing Canada’s sovereignty, economic resilience, and ability to attract and retain top talent. Read the letter.
In support of this, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has launched a letter signing campaign for continued investment in research. Sign the letter.
New on the Big Thinking Podcast: Harnessing interdisciplinarity to tackle behavioural addiction
Why is it essential to combine perspectives, expertise, and methodologies from different fields to better understand the complexity of public health challenges? What are the concrete benefits observed when researchers from various fields collaborate? Join Federation President and CEO Karine Morin and Université de Sherbrooke researcher Magaly Brodeur to explore the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in supporting impactful research on complex problems. Listen now (episode in French).
Big Thinking Summit events
Unveiling the 2026 Big Thinking Summit: Inflection Point
In Edmonton from June 9 to 11, 2026, the Federation’s Big Thinking Summit: Inflection Point will bring the HSS to the forefront. Together, we must draw on historical, linguistic, cultural, and practice-based perspectives to open new possibilities for a Canada at the crossroads. Learn more about the Summit.
Make it happen with us. We’re seeking bold ideas, creative collaborations, and diverse voices from across academia, the community, policy, and beyond that demonstrate the power and impact of the HSS today. Submit your proposal by November 17.
Big Thinking Summit: Future-ready graduate education in Canada
The Federation hosts a series of Big Thinking Summits. These by-invitation gatherings are co-created with partners, bringing advocates and changemakers together to tackle timely issues with depth and impact. This October 15 to 6 at McMaster University, the Federation, The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, and the Canadian Collaborative for Society, Innovation and Policy will convene a focused program on a National Strategy for Graduate Education, with plenaries and deliberative breakouts to set priorities and next steps. Graduate students and those working in related fields are encouraged to attend. Funding support is available to graduate students. Learn more about the series and our upcoming event.
HSS News
The Walrus Talks at Home: Growing Canadian Productivity – One way to build productivity is to harness the energies of innovative thinkers. Join speakers from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council on October 7, 2025, at 12:00 ET to discuss how social sciences research at Canada’s world-class post-secondary institutions can grow our productivity. Learn more and register.
The Hub Podcast - ‘Now is the perfect opportunity’: What’s the value of the social sciences and humanities in Canada today? - Peter Stoicheff, president of the University of Saskatchewan and outgoing chair of the U15 group of Canada’s research-intensive universities, discusses the role of the humanities and social sciences in a world increasingly shaped by technological disruption, artificial intelligence, and polarization. Listen now.
The Excellence Dividend – In the midst of an intensifying backlash against so-called “woke” policies, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in research are often dismissed as ideological distractions. This rhetoric has become a rallying point in the culture wars, shaping public policy debates, university governance, and research funding. Read more.
To close its productivity gap, Canada needs to rethink its higher education system – Canada is facing a productivity crisis that threatens wages, competitiveness and long-term prosperity and the country’s current post-secondary education system isn’t adequate to lead Canada into the future. Read more.
Let’s keep the “human” in the humanities – The advent of artificial intelligence has hurled the academic world into another age of acute anxiety. Faced with this new and unprecedented challenge, there has never been a more urgent need to make the case for why the study of the humanities is important. Read more.
Testing times: Fending off a crisis in Canadian postsecondary education – Canada is embarking on a major economic pivot, and the country’s colleges and universities need to be a key driver in that transformation. Read more.
Governments of Canada and New Brunswick sign bilateral agreement on minority language education and second official language instruction - The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, is reaffirming the Government of Canada's commitment to Canada's Acadian and Francophone communities by announcing the signing of the Canada-New Brunswick Agreement on French First-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction. Read more.
The French academic year begins across Ontario - The increased diversity of French accents at Hearst University and the Université de l'Ontario français, the province's two oldest French-language universities, reflects efforts to attract and retain new students. Read more (in French only).
AI at university: professors bring back paper and oral exams - Faced with plagiarism linked to artificial intelligence, some universities are bringing back assessment methods that were thought to be on the way out. Read more (in French only).