“Canada’s Peace Corps”? CUSO’s evolving relationship with its US cousin, 1961–1971

Abstract

Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), a non-governmental organization with a mandate to send young Canadian volunteers to developing countries, was established in 1961, the same year that President John F. Kennedy launched the Peace Corps. Initially self-identifying and described in the media as “Canada’s Peace Corps,” CUSO later rejected the label. This article argues that a heady Canadian nationalism, together with CUSO’s experiences in countries where its volunteers were serving, accounted for the organization’s attempts to distance itself from its much larger US cousin, even as it continued to benefit from that cousin’s friendship and resources.