In Canada, the Centre for Inquiry grew out of the alliance between a group of students from the University of Toronto and several prominent Humanists, including Dr. Robert Buckman and Dr. Henry Morgentaler, initially with the support of CFI Transnational.
In 2004, a small atheist group formed at Trinity College, an Anglican institution affiliated with the University of Toronto. A year later, this group, under the leadership of 2 University of Toronto undergraduate students (Jennie Fiddes and Justin Trottier), formed the University of Toronto Secular Alliance. This group grew quickly and expanded from its university base to become the Toronto Secular Alliance.
In 2006, the Toronto Secular Alliance and the Toronto Humanist Association joined forces to create the Secular Freethought Centre. This new, grassroots organization grew quickly. The organizers recognized that they lacked the experience and knowledge to operate such an organization without any staff. CFI Transnational, wishing to establish a branch in Canada to support its expanding Canadian membership, provided this expertise and some seed funding to launch CFIC.
Centre for Inquiry Canada received CRA charitable status on September 16, 2009.
More about our founders and founding principles.