News Release

FREDERICTON (CNB) – The 80^th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences will take place in Fredericton from May 28 to June 4 thanks to investments by the provincial and federal governments as well as the City of Fredericton.

The funding was announced today by Tourism and Parks Minister Trevor Holder, National Revenue Minister Keith Ashfield and Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside. The three government levels are making a combined investment of $415,000 to help the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University host the event.

"We are proud to support our academic community as it brings together a large contingent of academics, students and policy-makers to our province," said Holder. "This is an important event for our academic community and for our province. The attendees will enjoy our great hospitality, and I encourage them to take some time to enjoy the great sights and tourist attractions we have in our province."

Congress 2011: Coasts and Continents: Exploring Peoples and Places will bring together scholars, students, practitioners and policy-makers to share ideas, debate and enrich their research within a spectrum of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s (ACOA’s) Innovative Communities Fund, is providing $200,000. The provincial government is contributing $150,000 and the City of Fredericton, $65,000.

"Congress 2011 is major national conference that provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the outstanding quality of Atlantic Canada's university community and will promote Fredericton and the surrounding communities to a national audience," said Ashfield. "Investments such as this demonstrate our government's commitment to helping all regions of this country grow and prosper."

Ashfield is also the minister of ACOA and minister of the Atlantic Gateway.

"The 80^th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is one of the biggest meetings to take place in Fredericton's history," said Woodside. "We are ready to welcome the expected 6,000 delegates who will visit our city, and I am sure they will enjoy our hospitality. The economic spinoff to our hotels, attractions, local businesses and new convention centre will be substantial."

"Coming after our successful centenary celebrations in 2010, our entire St. Thomas University community is excited now to co-host Congress 2011," said Dennis Cochrane, president, St. Thomas University. "The social sciences and the humanities are playing a leading role in tackling the issues facing society today, and our scholars at St. Thomas University are excited to host their colleagues from across the country."

Organized by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and held each year in a different city, the congress represents a unique showcase of scholarly excellence, creativity and leadership.

"This is an exciting year for the University of New Brunswick,” said Eddy Campbell, president, University of New Brunswick. "Besides co-hosting Congress 2011, we are celebrating our 225^th anniversary as the oldest English-language university in Canada. Congress 2011 is the largest event ever hosted by the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, which is why we have approximately 200 people working on the logistics to ensure the delegates have a positive experience as they learn more about our rich history and culture, and explore the natural beauty of our region."

This event is expected to improve the region's tourism capacity with a significant impact on hotel registration, restaurant activity, use of local transportation, retail business and other tourism activity.

The promotion of pre- and post-event tourism opportunities is expected to broaden the economic impact of the conference to rural communities across the province. Also, the experience of hosting an event of this scale is expected to position Greater Fredericton to host other large-scale events.