Canadian Federation for the Humanities : The Canadian Federation for the Humanities was created in December 1943 as a non-profit organization at the instigation of the Canadian Social Science Research Council, which provided financial support for the creation of a parallel organization for the humanities. It was originally called the Humanities Research Council of Canada (HRCC) and its primary objective was to promote research and scholarship in the humanities. It represented disciplines such as literature, languages, history, philosophy, classical studies, music, fine arts, religious studies, and Canadian studies, among others. Generally, it fulfilled its mandate by providing research grants and fellowships, supporting the publication of scholarly research, coordinating the conferences of learned societies, and serving as a lobby group for the humanities. It has been administered by an Executive Committee, a Board of Directors, and a General Assembly. From its creation until their merger in 1996, it worked closely with the Social Science Federation of Canada, jointly administering the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme and organizing the Learned Societies' conferences.
The source of funding for the Canadian Federation for the Humanities has changed significantly during the course of its history. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the HRCC depended on American philanthropic organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Ford Foundation for most of its funding. The creation of the Canada Council in 1957 resulted in a shift to the federal government as its primary source of financial support. The HRCC administered the Canada Council's programs for research assistance until 1964 when the latter body assumed control of most of them. During the 1960s and 1970s, the HRCC evolved from an association of academic researchers into a federation representing learned societies and universities. Membership was officially opened to learned societies in 1966 and the number of disciplines within the humanities multiplied rapidly in the following years. In response to lobbying from the HRCC and the Social Science Federation, the federal government created the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in 1977 to assume responsibility from the Canada Council for funding research in the humanities and social sciences. To avoid confusion with the new government agency and better reflect its evolving role, the HRCC changed its name to the Canadian Federation for the Humanities in 1978. By the mid-1990s, the Federation had thirty-two constituent members (learned societies) and sixty-six institutional members (universities and colleges).
The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and the Social Science Federation of Canada merged on 1 April 1996 to form the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. The name of the new organization was changed again in 2002 to the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
