Inventory of Current Approaches, Initiatives, and Practices in Canadian Academic Institutions to Foster the Engagement of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts in the Science-Policy Interface

This study presents a national inventory of how Canadian universities engage Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) disciplines in the science-policy interface (SPI). Using a digital humanities methodology, the research team scanned departmental websites at 90 public universities, identifying 4,032 distinct policy-related activities. These were categorized into individual initiatives, punctual activities, and partnership-building efforts. Results show a system heavily weighted toward individual engagement (68%) and short-term activities (21%), with only 12% representing sustained, institutionalized partnerships. The analysis reveals disciplinary concentration in Public Health/Public Policy, Business/Economics, Sociology, Criminology and Law, and Political Science/International Studies, which together account for over two-thirds of all entries. Provincial disparities are significant: British Columbia dominates in total entries, but Québec leads in structured partnerships and government collaborations. Despite widespread SSHA participation across disciplines, partnerships with Indigenous communities, municipal governments, and private actors remain rare. Most partnership-building efforts are aimed at social development and education, with little focus on science policy or reconciliation. The findings expose the limits of a decentralized, individually driven engagement model and highlight the need for institutional infrastructure, funding mechanisms, and evaluative frameworks aligned with collaborative, long-term policy engagement. The study calls for a strategic shift: from rewarding output-based dissemination to enabling embedded, co-productive policy work. Without such realignment, SSHA contributions will remain fragmented, under-leveraged, and structurally peripheral to public decision-making, despite their proven relevance. The inventory provides a baseline for reforming how universities support SSHA engagement at the SPI and for reimagining their role in shaping public policy.