The Journal of Canadian Studies started off as an idea for a "Learned Journal" similar to the Queen's Quarterly but called the Trent Quarterly. As ideas were formulated by President T.H.B. Symons and others it came about that the need for a learned journal in Canadian Studies was necessary to the field of Canadian Studies. On 1 June 1964 during the first meeting of the Committee of the Learned Journal it was decided to call the new journal The Journal of Canadian Studies. Professor S.G. Denis Smith was chair of the meeting and other members in attendance at the meeting were Dean M.G. Fry, Mr. J.D.P. Martin and Professor J.S. Pettigrew. In the press release on 7 July 1964 issued by Trent University the Journal was to cover such Canadian topics as history, politics, anthropology, art, literature, theatre, economics and sociology. The Journal solicits manuscripts ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 words in length, English or French, dealing with some aspect of Canadian Society or history and of general as well as specialized scholarly interest. The first editor of the Journal was Denis Smith and the associate editor was Bernard R. Blishen. A number of Trent faculty members, such as Kenneth E. Kidd, T.H.B. Symons as well as Ronald J. Thom, sat on the editorial and advisory boards. The Journal was "founded in the belief that the life and history of Canada, still largely unexamined, deserve[d] common study by persons of many approaches and attitudes." (Journal of Canadian Studies Vol. 1, page 2). The symbol used to represent the Journal of Canadian Studies is Samuel de Champlain's astrolabe which he had lost in 1613 while crossing a portage in the upper Ottawa River valley. The astrolabe now resides in the Canadian Museum of History. From 1966 to 2015, the Journal of Canadian Studies was published quarterly by Trent University. Beginning with Volume 49.3 (Fall 2015), it became part of the University of Toronto Press’s Journals publishing program.