The Atlas of Canada Project

Summary

This article reviews the establishment and preliminary investigation of the committee appointed by the Canadian Social Science Research Council in 1943 to explore the preparation and publication of a comprehensive Atlas of Canada. It distinguishes between dictionary-type atlases and scientific geographic atlases, citing exemplary international works such as the Atlas of France and the Great Soviet World Atlas. The committee conducted a systematic survey of existing map resources across Canada, finding sixteen sources in Ottawa alone, yet only three provinces—Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia—were engaged in original cartographic work. The article concludes that Canada urgently needs a modern atlas, and the committee's central task is to determine whether it should be a strictly scientific publication or a more popular work for general readership.