Hosting a CAP Congress

The CAP Congress is the most important general physics conference in Canada. It is typically held in the second week of June each year.

The CAP congress has been organized annually since 1946. It has been hosted by roughly 30 different institutions. Attendance typically ranges between 300 and 650 delegates, depending on location and other factors. It has, from time to time, attracted between 800 and 1000 delegates. On occasion, the CAP Congress has been co-located or jointly organized with sister organizations including the Canadian Astronomical Society, the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists, the American Physical Society, the Mexican Physical Society, and Photonics North. Some Congresses have had special themes, such as the World Year of Physics (2005). Click here to see the history of all CAP congresses held since 1946 — locations and attendance.

The CAP tries, as much as possible, to maintain a rotation schedule of holding its annual congress in locations that flow from Central to East to Central to West. This schedule recognizes that the bulk of the potential host institutions are located in the Central (ON/QC) region and ensures that there is not too great a burden placed on those regions with fewer institutions by requiring them to host the congress more often than others might. The CAP is willing to consider deviating from this schedule to accommodate special congresses as noted above, or to enable an institution that has never before hosted the congress to do so during a period where they feel it is possible to do so.

CAP Congress Planning Kit

This kit has been prepared as a guide to university departments which may be contemplating a bid to host a future CAP Congress. It contains a summary of the key Congress elements, introduces the roles and responsibilities of the CAP and the host university in Congress planning and facilitation, and describes how the various groups work together in an established committee structure towards a successful outcome. Current CAP policies and Congress-related documents, including a sample budget template, are provided as appendices. Click here to download the entire congress planning kit.