Economic Scholarship in Canada

Abstract

Economics first appeared in a Canadian university curriculum more than eighty years ago; thirty years later several universities were offering groups of courses in economics that could qualify a student for the equivalent of an honours degree in economics; but it is only in the past thirty-five years that a steady flow of scholarly writing in Canadian economics has developed. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of this Journal provides an appropriate occasion to review briefly the expansion of economic scholarship in Canada.The first university course in political economy to be offered in Canada was in 1878 when the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University introduced a course of lectures based on Adam Smith, Mill, and Jevons. Ten years later, in 1888, Adam Shortt was appointed lecturer in political economy and in 1891 he became the Sir John A. Macdonald Professor of Political Science. The University of Toronto appointed its first professor of political science in 1888, and (Sir) William Ashley gave lectures in both political economy and constitutional history. McGill entered the field in 1899 when Dr. LeRossignol of Colorado was appointed visiting professor for one year. In 1900 Stephen Leacock was appointed lecturer in political science, and in 1901 (Sir) William Flux was brought over from England to occupy McGill's first chair in economics. The succeeding chairs of political economy in Canadian universities were occupied by A. L. McCrimmon at McMaster in 1904, E. Bouchette at Montreal in 1907, and A. B. Clark at Manitoba in 1909.