What is the Society?
Founded in 1929, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society is a non-partisan Canadian charity, dedicated to championing a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Canada’s immense geography.
The Society’s vision is to help Canadians chart a successful future by fostering a greater understanding of Canada’s geography — its diverse human and physical landscapes — as well as the changes affecting its people and the environment.
Through this understanding, the Society seeks to help Canadians share and grow their sense of pride in the size and scope of their country’s geography, a unifying force in divisive times.
Best known for its Canadian Geographic magazine, the Society also supports Canadian geographical expeditions and provides grants and scholarships for cutting-edge geographical research.
The Society is also active in building and supporting geographic education across the country with its educational program, Can Geo Education, which provides free geographic educational resources to more than 27,000 member educators coast-to-coast-to-coast.
What is a Fellow?
Fellows are the voting members of the Society and are collectively referred to as the “College of Fellows.” Membership in the College of Fellows is an honour and a privilege. New members are elected by the College and include many esteemed and accomplished Canadians.
The College of Fellows in turn elects the Board of Governors, which is responsible for the governance of the Society.The College of Fellows, the Board of Governors and the Board’s program committees are comprised entirely of volunteers.
The responsibilities of a Fellow are varied. Fellows are expected to champion the non-partisan mission of the Society – to make Canada better known to Canadians and the world – to volunteer their time in support of the Society, to vote on the governance of the Society and to contribute financially to the organizational health of the Society.
The Society currently has over 1,000 Fellows. Fellows are not employees nor agents of the Society.
