Originally established as the Canadian Society for the Promotion of Nautical Research, the Canadian Nautical Research Society was incorporated 25 October 1984 and achieved the status of a registered charity shortly thereafter with business number 11921 9525 RR0001.
The objectives of the Society are:
- to promote nautical research in Canada
- to disseminate the results of such research
- and to encourage an awareness of Canada’s maritime heritage
To those ends, the Society publishes a quarterly journal — The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord — and a quarterly newsletter — Argonauta — holds an annual conference, and makes several awards:
- the Jacques Cartier MA Prize in Maritime Affairs, to encourage graduate students at the Master’s level
- the Gerry Panting Award, which is a bursary to a young scholar to attend the annual conference to present a paper, and
- annually awards The Keith Matthews Awards — named in honour of the Society’s first President — to recognize outstanding publications in the field of nautical research.
The Society is also the Canadian national sub-commission of the International Commission for Maritime History.
The Society is managed by an Executive Council composed of officers and councillors. This same list includes our Presidents since the foundation of the Society.