The Latest Breaking News from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, a global reckoning on anti-Black racism ignited protests, conversations and demand for action. Across North America, universities scrambled to make public commitments to racial justice. They pledged to make changes and address systemic inequalities.

Fears of foreign interference loom over the Canadian election. The federal inquiry on foreign interference revealed that entities aligned with India and China interfered in recent elections, albeit without major impact on the results, and concluded that disinformation campaigns pose the greatest threat to Canada’s long-term democratic health.

A teen in British Columbia recently became critically ill after becoming infected with H5N1. H5N1 is a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu.

As the world gathers in Azerbaijan for this year’s annual UN climate conference (COP29), the urgency to act on climate change has never been greater.

Video games have always been a showcase for new technologies. They help create new audiences and new markets. In the 1990s, computer parts manufacturers advertised the speed of their video cards in terms of the frames they could render per second of popular video games like Quake.

In 2023, more than half of Canadian children (up to five years old) were in child care and more than 25 per cent of young children were on a wait list. Many children are in child care for several hours per day and multiple days per week. Parents control children’s…

Expecting another child can be both exciting and nerve-racking. Many parents feel more confident the second (or third) time around as they have already experienced the birthing process, the challenges of caring for a newborn and the inevitable sleep deprivation.

Canadian cities are falling behind globally when it comes to efficiently moving people. Long commute times, high congestion rates and infrastructure that is vulnerable to climate change are symptoms of a mobility crisis.

A United Nations special rapporteur recently released a damning report describing Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program as a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” The report detailed the many ways migrant workers have been mistreated in Canada, including excessive work hours, limited breaks and physical abuse.