For over 100 years, the CPSA has been a hub for political science professionals to connect with their peers and share their work. The CPSA’s flagship annual academic conference is a highly respected venue for members to present and discuss cutting-edge research, share pedagogical approaches and innovations, listen to high profile keynote speakers, and promote recently published work.  Beyond the conference, the CPSA organizes and hosts various networking opportunities throughout the year. The annual Chairs Meeting is a gathering of heads of departments of political science across Canada to discuss trends in higher education and best practices in professional development. The CPSA Women’s Caucus supports mentoring and networking initiatives to highlight the achievements of women scholars and address and advocate for gender issues in the field. 

The CPSA is committed to the next generation of scholars in political science. Our annual conference provides students with opportunities to present their work and to build their scholarly networks. We provide financial support for students to engage in the conference through the CPSA Innovation Fund, including coordinating the Graduate Students Caucus, funding and coordinating a travel grant program and providing student employment leading up to and during the conference. CPSA also supports two professional paid internship programs: the Parliamentary Internship Programme with the federal government and the Ontario Parliamentary Internship Programme with the Ontario provincial government. These programs provide unparalleled education and employment opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to learn the practise of politics and policy in Canada. The CPSA also manages POLCAN2, a highly subscribed listserv providing up-to-date information on conferences, funding, and employment opportunities to a wide political science audience, including graduate students and emerging scholars.

The CPSA promotes the development of rigorous, high-quality, internationally respected political science research and education. We publish the Canadian Journal of Political Science (CJPS), a flagship journal providing academics, governments, civil society organizations and Canadian citizens with cutting-edge insights in political science. We adjudicate several annual awards and prizes recognizing leading scholars and educators in the field, including emerging graduate talent. The CPSA Reconciliation Committee is a standing committee of the organization that provides guidance, resources, and best practices for political science departments and educators seeking to engage fully in reconciliation practices and increasing Indigenous content in political science scholarship and education. 

The CPSA connects the discipline with broader communities of policy makers, community advocates, journalists, and practitioners to deepen understanding of the role of politics in all aspects of society. Our annual conference provides over 600 members with the opportunity to publicize their research, facilitating knowledge transfer from academic institutions to the broader community. The CPSA promotes the discipline of political science in a variety of venues, including liaising with agencies of government charged with supporting the academic study of politics; other professional organizations; the Federation of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.