Presentation of the Chair

The Canada Research Chair Program

The principal objective of the Canada Research Chairs Program is to encourage Canadian universities to obtain research excellence and become world class research centres.

Welcome to the Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Governance

The Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Governance was awarded to Professor Jane Jenson, FRSC in March 2001. The Chair aims to increase understanding of social policy, citizenship practices and social cohesion in Canada and Europe. In particular, it analyzes new political institutions, especially supra-national ones, that are shaping the future and their impact on citizenship practices.

The first direction of research development involves theorizing and analyzing the connections between new forms of social and political rights and emerging practices of governance. The second research direction is to analyze the consequences of shared sovereignty, as is underway in the European Union and North America, for citizenship and governance.

There are interesting comparisons to be made between Canada and the European Union given their governance at multi-levels and welfare states, as well as diverse and pluralist societies. The goal of this research is to detail the restructuring of the citizenship regimes and modes of fostering social cohesion in Canada and the European Union. The focus is specifically on the links between changes to social citizenship and patterns of governance in a context of shared sovereignty.

The Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Governance supports students working on these research themes. It invites related scholars and specialists to participate in different activities organized at the university.