Cardus

Cardus is a Canadian research and educational institution (think tank), whose stated mission is "the renewal of North American social architecture." Cardus comes from the root cardo, which was a north-south oriented street in Roman cities considered an integral element of city planning and city life. Cardus is based out of Hamilton, Ontario with offices in Calgary and Montreal as well. Its work relies upon Judeo-Christian social thought in order "to enrich and challenge public debate through research, events, and publications, for the common good."

Cardus has its roots in a charity established in 1974 under the name "Foundation for Research and Economics in Developing a Christian Approach to Industrial Relations and Economics," also known as the Work Research Foundation (WRF). Spearheaded by Harry Antonides and Bernard Zylstra, the work of the Work Research Foundation consisted primarily in the publication of a quarterly newsletter, Comment, and occasional conferences.

In 1996, WRF received a project grant from the Donner Canadian Foundation to deal with Freedom of Association in Canadian Labour Relations. This project included a survey of Canadian attitudes towards unions done in cooperation with Gallup; the publication of Buying a Labour Monopoly, and numerous smaller publications and presentations. Ray Pennings directed this project and, together with Gideon Strauss, developed a proposal to develop the Work Research Foundation into a full-fledged think tank that would be "public, credible and Christian." Michael Van Pelt, at that time the President of the Sarnia Chamber of Commerce, was hired as the first full-time employee and began work in September 2000. Ray Pennings joined the full-time staff in 2002, having previously served as the Public Affairs Director for the Christian Labour Association of Canada. They developed a threefold strategy of utilizing publications, research, and networking events in order to map the institutional space that exists between government and the markets.

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