Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

What Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences does

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) is a Canadian non-profit, membership-based national organization founded in 1934 and headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It serves as the convening body and public policy advocate for over 160 Canadian universities, colleges, and scholarly associations, representing an estimated 90,000-91,000 researchers and graduate students in the humanities and social sciences. Its core offerings are organized around three pillars: (1) flagship events led by the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canada's largest academic gathering with 8,000+ annual attendees operating for over 90 years, plus the Big Thinking Summit series and Big Thinking Podcast; (2) grant and award programs administered largely with SSHRC funding, including the Scholarly Book Awards (up to 180 Publication Grants of $8,000 and 5 Translation Grants of $30,000 annually), the Canada Prizes (five $4,000 prizes recognizing transformative HSS books, relaunched November 2024), and the EDID Initiatives Fund (up to $3,000 per initiative); and (3) advocacy infrastructure including the Policy Development Framework, Think Big / Think Forward reports, federal budget analyses, and Governor General's Innovation Awards nominations since 2016. The Federation also provides member benefits such as access to the Fourwaves abstract management software and Congress support programs (Graduate Merit Awards, Child and Dependent Care Subsidy, Open Programming Fund). Revenue is derived from undisclosed membership fees (institutional, association, affiliate tiers set by the Board), Congress registration and sponsorship, and operational funding from SSHRC; specific amounts are not publicly disclosed. Karine Morin serves as President and CEO. Following a 2019 racial profiling incident at Congress, the Federation undertook substantive EDID reforms codified in the 2021 'Igniting Change' report, including a permanent Standing Committee on EDID and a Senior Advisor role, which now shape program criteria across the portfolio.

Name

Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Legal name

Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Website

https://federationhss.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1934

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is a Canadian non-profit membership organization, founded in 1934 and headquartered in Ottawa, that convenes over 160 universities, colleges, and scholarly associations representing roughly 90,000 researchers and graduate students. It delivers the annual Congress, administers scholarly publishing and EDID grant programs largely funded by SSHRC, and serves as the national policy advocate for Canada's humanities and social sciences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Membership Organization

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

Keywords

• Academic membership organization
• Scholarly publishing grants
• Academic conference organizing
• Humanities advocacy services
• Research policy advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: The Federation is a membership-based organization. Universities, colleges, scholarly associations, and affiliates pay membership fees as set by the Board of Directors to join. Fee tiers and amounts are determined by the Board and vary by membership category (institutional, association, affiliate).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is a Canadian national, membership-based not-for-profit organization that serves as the national voice for the humanities and social sciences research community. It delivers its mission through annual membership fees paid by universities, colleges, and scholarly associations, and operates grant programs (Scholarly Book Awards, EDID Initiatives Fund), award programs (Canada Prizes, Governor General's Innovation Awards nominations), and the flagship annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Additional offerings include the Big Thinking public dialogue series, advocacy on federal research policy, and member benefits such as abstract management software access.

Product overview

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is a membership-based organization comprising over 160 universities, colleges, and scholarly associations representing approximately 90,000-91,000 researchers and graduate students. The organization's product portfolio centers on grant programs (Scholarly Book Awards providing Publication and Translation Grants; EDID Initiatives Fund), award programs (Canada Prizes recognizing outstanding scholarly books; Governor General's Innovation Awards nominations), and flagship events (Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences attracting 8,000+ annual participants; Big Thinking Summits and Podcast series). Additional offerings include advocacy frameworks (Policy Development Framework, Think Big Report Series), research impact resources, and member benefits including abstract management software and conference support services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences: Canada's largest academic gathering, bringing together more than 8,000 participants each year for over 90 years
• Big Thinking
• Canada Prizes
• Scholarly Book Awards

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 8,000 scholarly book titles published with support from the Scholarly Book Awards since 1941
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Black Canadian Studies Association (BCSA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2021Following Congress 2019 and the Federation's commitments to address racial profiling and anti-Black racism, BCSA joined Congress 2022. The Federation committed to waiving fees, a future Congress theme on Black Studies/anti-Black racism, grant support, and technical assistance for virtual Congress. This partnership is central to the Federation's EDID commitments.
• Simon Fraser University (SFU)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSFU is partnering with the Federation to host Congress 2027, Canada's largest academic conference. This is the Federation's flagship annual event bringing together over 8,000 scholars from across Canada under one umbrella.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• British Academy: UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, providing fellowships, research funding, and policy advice. Comparable national academy structure and policy advocacy role, but UK-focused rather than Canadian.
• Australian Academy of the Humanities: Australia's national humanities academy, providing advocacy, grant programs, and scholarly recognition. Comparable as a national umbrella body for humanities and social sciences, but operates primarily in Australia rather than Canada.

Broad incumbents

• American Historical Association (AHA): Major US scholarly society for historians; comparable in providing membership services, advocacy, and annual conference convening, though focused on a single discipline rather than the broader HSS umbrella.
• Modern Language Association (MLA): Largest US scholarly society in the humanities, convening an annual convention of thousands of language and literature scholars. Comparable in running large academic conferences, but MLA is discipline-specific rather than a cross-disciplinary federation.

Direct peers

• National Humanities Center (US): US-based independent institute supporting advanced humanities research through fellowships, public programming, and policy engagement. Comparable role as a national convener and amplifier for humanities scholarship.
• Royal Society of Canada: Canada's senior national body of distinguished Canadian scholars, artists, and scientists. Comparable as a Canadian scholarly society that recognizes excellence and conducts policy advocacy across the humanities and social sciences.
• Social Science Research Council (SSRC): Non-profit social science research organization that funds scholars, runs fellowship programs, and produces research on social science methods and policy. Comparable grantmaking and capacity-building function for social sciences scholars.
• American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS): US national non-profit federation of scholarly societies in the humanities and social sciences. Comparable as a membership-based umbrella organization that advocates for humanities research, administers fellowships/grants, and convenes member institutions across the academy.
• Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (historical/alt): Historically, the Federation was formed from the merger of the former Canadian Federation for the Humanities (CFH) and the Canadian Social Sciences Federation; current peer equivalent is the same organization. Listed as a self-reference point for the Canadian scholarly federation space.

Others

• SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council): Canadian federal research funding agency and primary funder of the Federation's Scholarly Book Awards and Canada Prizes. Indirect peer: not a competing scholarly society but the upstream funding body whose policy decisions shape the Federation's operating context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCirwy--DhRDqgLIujCUY4VA
• Facebookfacebook.com/federationhss
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/federationhss
• Instagraminstagram.com/federation_hss
• Xx.com/federation_hss

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences