Welcome to the Canadian International Council

Since 1928, as a non-partisan, charitable organization, the Canadian International Council has provided a platform for citizens to help shape Canada’s place in the world.  Indeed, at our 18 branches located across Canada, our volunteers host numerous in-person and online speaker events year-round for our members and the general public.  We also mentor and support students through a variety of programs such as supporting sudent-run Model United Nations conferences, and further engage with the wider public through our publications such as the International Journal, Behind the Headlines, and our online foreign policy magazine Open Canada.

The Canadian International Council and the Public Policy Forum are also, and currently, creating an oral history archive of the Jean Chrétien government (1993-2003), a project which will complement other oral history projects of the period and projects on leaders of close allies, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. Directed by Professor Robert Bothwell of the University of Toronto in cooperation with the Trinity College Archive, the oral history will interview not

only principal political and bureaucratic figures in the period but also opposition politicians, indigenous leaders, provincial premiers, leading journalists and civil society representatives. Canada has been a laggard compared with similar nations in building oral history collections, which are of increasing significance for researchers, journalists and the general public.

At the core of our organization, of course, are our members across the country, from our advisory council led by the Right Honourable Joe Clark, to the national board, our modest national office, and our branch executive leadership teams. And we could not do what we do without the generous support of our many donors.  Apart from the national office, all of us are volunteers who firmly believe that Canada should, and most certainly can, play a greater role in world affairs.

If you are keen to make Canada, and the world, a better place and are looking for a network of like-minded people why not consider joining the nearest Canadian International Council branch?