After serving in the First World War, Harold Innis joined U of T’s Department of Political Economy in 1920, where he remained until his death.

Educated at McMaster University and the University of Chicago, Innis wrote The Fur Trade in Canada, where he articulated the staple theory of Canadian history. This theory examined the effect of Canada’s single-commodity – fish, lumber or energy – economy on its progress. He followed that with Empire and Communications and The Bias of Communication. Marshall McLuhan would later pick up the thread of thought first woven by Innis in this book.

In 1964, a small, active college at U of T was founded and was named in his honour. It was followed by a popular lecture series also named in his honour and, in 1997, the establishment of the Harold Innis Research Foundation.