Briefs and Reports

Historically, the contemporary understanding of academic freedom in Canada emerged from two principal sources. The first was the early British traditions of academic free speech and faculty self-governance illustrated, for example, by the efforts of Isaac Newton and his Cambridge colleagues to resist interference in academic decision-making by King James II in 1687.

Academic Freedom Cases in Canada (2010-present)

Unlike most other jurisdictions, academic freedom in Canada has very limited statutory or constitutional recognition. Canadian courts have made only occasional comments on the topic, and these carry no legal weight. Human rights tribunals have rarely heard complaints that involve academic freedom.

These four principal components of academic freedom – in teaching, research, intramural expression, and extramural expression – are also reflected in the definition of academic freedom in the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel.

Repository of advisories to help further equity during the bargaining process