Canadian Association of Geographers

The Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG)/L'Association canadienne des géographes (ACG) is the national organization of geographers in Canada and for geographers outside Canada who have scholarly interests in Canada. The professional association includes members from universities as well as both public and private sectors. Its mission is to encourage geographic research, promote geographic education, and recognize geographic excellence through various awards. In addition, the organization is dedicated to cooperation and participation with other national and international geographic organizations and interdisciplinary organizations.

In 1950, a group of geographers representing the Canadian government's Geographical Branch [Page 320]and several Canadian universities met to discuss the creation of a Canadian organization of geographers. They contacted other geographers in Canada and invited them to an inaugural meeting in May 1951, which was held at McGill University in Montreal. Although the precise number of geographers who participated in the meeting is not known, various sources suggest that number to have been about 60. By the end of the first day, the CAG was formally organized and officers elected; on the second day, eight papers were presented, seven of which were subsequently published in the first volume of The Canadian Geographer.

The CAG publishes The Canadian Geographer, a quarterly journal and the principal means through which it disseminates geographic research. In addition to this journal, the CAG publishes its Newsletter six times a year. The Newsletter is the venue in which information about professional jobs in geography, profiles of nominees for various elected positions, and information on study groups, regional divisions, and geographers in the news are made available to CAG members. The organization also publishes an annual directory that provides information about each geography department within Canada, its faculty, and the current research projects and recent publications of faculty members.

Although most of its members are associated with universities, the CAG is committed to geographic education at all levels. Since its establishment, the CAG has promoted geography in Canada through publication of its journal, newsletters, and annual meetings. The CAG hosts a national meeting each year. The event attracts geographers from across the country and many others from the United States and Europe. Both students and faculty members alike present at these meetings. The CAG has five regional divisions: (1) Western Division (British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories); (2) Prairie Division (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut); (3) Ontario Division; (4) Quebec Division; and (5) Atlantic Division (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland). These divisions also host annual meetings in their respective regions and often share those meetings with corresponding regional divisions of the Association of American Geographers.

In addition to its regional divisions, the CAG also has 15 study groups that provide a forum for discussion and promotion of specific subdisciplines of geography. The groups are (1) Women and Geography; (2) Environment and Resources; (3) Tourism and Recreation; (4) Economic and Social Change; (5) Marine Studies and Coastal Zone Management; (6) Health and Health Care; (7) Indigenous Peoples; (8) Rural Geography; (9) Geomorphology; (10) Public Policy; (11) GIS; (12) Geographies of Asia; (13) Geographic Education; (14) Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, and Race; and (15) Historical Geography. These groups organize special sessions at national and regional meetings and many have a presence on the Web and publish newsletters.

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