Reaching Readers
Message from the Chair
The sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation inspired an ambitious agenda for Canada’s National History Society. Fuelled by an extraordinary level of investment from public and private funders, 2017 saw Canada’s History introduce ten new initiatives that have taken the organization to increased levels of reach and engagement.
We entered the year with evidence, through Vividata’s 2016 reports, showing that Canada’s History reaches more than 1.1 million readers in print and online.
Our goal was to grow this exceptional reach and reader engagement. We undertook initiatives to build on our strength as a valued history publisher, a reliable provider of rich digital content, and a national organization that honours excellence, builds connections, and gives voice to the people and projects that advance learning about history.
The year featured a highly successful mass distribution of commemorative issues of Kayak and Canada’s History; international profile in partnership with the Canadian Museum of History with a new Snapshots of Canada exhibition; and long-term impact with the launch of ninety years of The Beaver “in your pocket” featuring mobile access to a new searchable Canada’s History Archive.
We held a highly productive meeting with national educators that charted a course for student learning and for new approaches to history education in line with provincial curriculum; and we celebrated Montreal 375 with print and digital features in French and in English that flew off the shelves in Montreal museums. We look forward to continuing to build on this momentum to help Canadians to become even more engaged with their shared past.
— David Ross