Although there had been an Institute of Industrial Relations at the University of Toronto in the 1940s, our Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources traces its start to 1965 and the unanimous recommendation of a University of Toronto Presidential Advisory Committee, which had been set up in 1962. Professor John Crispo of the U of T School of Business was appointed the first Director and continued in that role until 1971/1972, when he became Acting Director, in order to accommodate the additional duties of his appointment to Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies. Professor Crispo continued to teach at the University until his retirement in 1996. His autobiography Rebel without a Pause was published in 2002 and he was an active media commentator on many aspects of Canadian life, including free trade, medicare and labour-management relations up until his death in April 2009.
One of Professor Crispo's earliest initiatives as Director was to hire Jean Newman in 1968. Jean, with the assistance of her sister Dorothy, established the Library and Information Service. In those early days, the CIRHR Library was retained by the Personnel Association of Toronto to provide research services to its members. The tradition of serving the needs of both the academic and practitioner community was born, and continues to this day. The library was named after Jean and Dorothy when they retired in 1977. Head Librarians: Elizabeth Perry 1977-retired Dec. 2006; Bruce Pearce Jan. 2007-retired July 2008; Vicki Skelton, August 2008-.
Dorothy Newman (left) and Jean Newman (right), founding librarians of the CIR Library.
The Centre was originally located at 123 St. George Street, in a house built in 1899 for Thomas Harris, a prominent businessman whose company became part of the Massey Ferguson company. His son, Lawren Harris, a member of Canada 's Group of Seven, lived at 123 St. George with his wife and children during the first world war.
In 1973, Professor Morley Gunderson, and in 1974, Professor David Beatty, served as Acting Directors until the appointment in 1975 of Professor Noah Meltz as Director. Under the late Professor Meltz, the Centre developed the first Masters of Industrial Relations (MIR) degree program in an English-speaking university in Canada. It was during this time that Deborah Campbell joined the Centre, to provide the strong administrative support needed for the expanded teaching function. Lorna Marsden, now President of York University, was the first Graduate Co-ordinator of the program. The first graduating class to receive the MIR degree consisted of two students, George Smith and Peter Hurd, in 1977. In 1985, when Professor Meltz left the Centre to become Assistant Dean at the School of Graduate Studies , he left behind a firmly established program. On the occasion of Professor Meltz' death in January 2002, the Noah Meltz Scholarship was established to honour his memory. This scholarship is for students accepted into the Masters program at the Centre after earning their first degree at Woodsworth College.
| MIR Continues to Grow with a New PhD Program |
When Morley Gunderson became Director of the Centre in 1985, he built on his earlier efforts and in 1986 the first English-language PhD. program in Industrial Relations in Canada was launched. Even after the completion of two terms as Director in 1997, Professor Gunderson has continued to oversee the PhD program as PhD co-ordinator. At the completion of his Director's mandate, the annual Morley Gunderson Prize was established in 1998 to recognize and honour graduates who combine outstanding professional achievement with significant service to the Centre.
In 2008 Professor Gunderson was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for his work as an internationally recognized scholar and pioneer in transforming the field of industrial relations in Canada.
| New Location at 121 St. George Street |
The Centre moved to its current home at 121 St. George Street in 1993. The house was built in 1896 for Lillian Gooderham, one of the daughters of George Gooderham, President of the distillery Gooderham and Worts. Lillian married Charles Beatty and together they lived at 121 St. George until their deaths: Charles in 1958, and Lillian in 1967, at the age of 93. The house became the property of the University and housed the Media Centre until 1992 when the Centre moved in.
In 1996, the Canadian Industrial Relations Association awarded its prestigious Gerard Dion Award to the Centre, "in recognition of its contribution to the advancement of research and education in Canadian industrial relations".
Professor Frank Reid succeeded Morley Gunderson in 1997, and served as Director until 2009. He firmly established the Centre's relationship with the Undergraduate Program in Employment Relations at Woodsworth College.
In 1998, the Centre launched its website, which has become an important means of communicating with prospective students, current students, and our alumni.
In 2000, a donation of one million dollars by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce established the CIBC Chair in Youth Employment jointly held at the Centre and Woodsworth College.
Morley Gunderson was appointed the first CIBC Chair holder, charged with conducting his own research and encouraging the research of others around the issues of youth and work.
Professor Jeffrey Reitz served as Graduate Coordinator of the Centre from 1992 to 1997. In 1999, in recognition of his outstanding research in the area, Jeffrey was appointed to the Robert F. Harney Chair in Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies and Director of the Graduate Collaborative Program in Ethnic and Pluralism Studies at U of T.
Other recent events of note at the Centre include the very successful International Conference on Union Growth in the 2001 in honour of Noah Meltz and organized by the Centre's Professor Anil Verma. In 2002, Frank Reid became President of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association, and in June 2002, he and Anil Verma co-hosted another large international conference, the joint meetings of the International Industrial Relations Association Regional Congress of the Americas and the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.
| The Alumni Connection: 25th Anniversary of the MIR Program |
In October 2002, the Centre celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the MIR Program with a Gala Reunion dinner at the Old Mill Inn, and a full day of workshops featuring MIR alumni as speakers. The success of this event was repeated in October 2003, with a second "Alumni Showcase" - a day of workshops by alumni for alumni and students. A third element of the 25th Anniversary celebrations was the launch of the MIR 25th Anniversary OGS Fellowship. By December 2003, $50,000 had been donated by alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the CIR. With matching funds from the University of Toronto and the Province of Ontario, this fellowship will yield $15,000 annually for fellowship awards to graduate students at the Centre in perpetuity - a lasting tribute to the MIR program and its graduates.
Degree Name Changed to Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources (MIRHR) (2004)
Centre Name Changed to Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR) (2006) |
In September 2004 the name of the Master of Industrial Relations (MIR) degree program was changed to Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources (MIRHR). In 2006 the name of the Centre changed from the Centre for Industrial Relations (CIR) to the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR). In addition, the PhD program at the Centre became the PhD in Industrial Relations and Human Resources.
Discussions concerning these name changes began in 1999, when Director Frank Reid began consultations with a broad group of CIR stakeholders including MIR students, alumni, PhD students, faculty and staff. In a vote organized by the Association of Students in Industrial Relations (ASIR) in the spring of 2004, MIR students voted two to one in favor of changing the name of the Masters degree and last year students also indicated their support for changing the name of the Centre and the PhD program as well.
The purpose of these changes was to ensure that the name of the Centre and its degree programs reflected the broad study of employment issues in both union and non-union environments that has always been a hallmark of the Centre. Although the CIR had always defined "industrial relations" broadly, to include both the study of labour relations in unionized environments and human resources in non-union environments, the term has increasingly become identified in the narrow sense of labour relations only. The names CIRHR and MIRHR will ensure that the broad scope of study at the Centre is recognized.
