History of IEEE Canada

On this page, we are assembling links to pages that record the history of IEEE Canada – its Councils, Sections, Chapters, Student Branches, and its people.

If you have information that could be posted on this web site, please contact the webmaster.

The early milestones of the AIEE/IRE/IEEE history in Canada include:

• 1884 – AIEE formed in Philadelphia by 25 electrical experts including Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.
• 1887 – Canadian Society of Civil (non-military) Engineers (CSCE) formed
• 1903 – AIEE Toronto Section formed on September 30 at the Engineers Club in Toronto
• 1912 – IRE formed by merging the Society of Wireless Telegraph Engineers (initiated in Boston in 1907) and the Wireless Institute (initiated in New York in 1909)
• 1912 – CSCE becomes the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC)
• 1921 – AIEE District 10 (Canada) formed on August 1
• 1925 – IRE Canadian Section formed at Canadian General Electric in Toronto in October
• 1944 – Ralph Hackbush becomes first Canadian to be IRE Vice-President
• 1957 – John Henderson becomes first Canadian to be IRE President
• 1963 – IEEE Region 7 created out of AIEE District 10 (Canada) and IRE Region 8 (Canada) during the merger of AIEE and IRE
• 1972 – Bob Tanner becomes first Canadian to be IEEE President
• 1976 – CSEE formed
• 1990 – CSEE renamed as CSECE
• 1995 – Jan 1st, IEEE Region 7 and CSECE merge to form IEEE Canada

25-Year Snapshot of IEEE Canada Achievements

IEEE Canada has a long, rich history of achievement. A snapshot of the past 25-year period is been captured in a brochure which includes IEEE Canada’s Sections growth, organizational developments and remarkable records of administrative change. The brochure includes a history of Canadian pioneers in our profession and IEEE Canada historic milestones. Click below to view the brochure in PDF:
25-Year History of IEEE Canada Achievements

More about IEEE Canada and its history
The links on the left side provide more information about IEEE Canada, our regional directors and area chairs by year of office, our sections by year of formation (with links to section chairs by year of office), and our logo. [Note: the designation “council” was changed to “area” in the spring of 2005 as part of IEEE Canada bylaw revisions.]

You will also find historical details about our predecessor societies, IEEE and CSECE (which was part of EIC), as well as the history of our conference CCECE (Canadian Conference of Electrical and Computer Engineering), our journal CJECE (Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering), and our magazine (IEEE Canadian Review).