This address builds on a session held earlier at the APA Division 24 midwinter meeting in Toronto, reflecting on the distinct role Canada has played in shaping theoretical and qualitative psychology in North America. From the intellectual hubs at Simon Fraser, York, and beyond, Canadian scholars have advanced interpretive, relational, and critical traditions that have profoundly influenced how psychology understands meaning, method, and ethics-often without being acknowledged as distinctly Canadian. This work has been enabled by French-English bilingualism, a resurgence of Indigenous scholarship, and public institutional cultures, fostering pluralism, reflexivity, and dialogue across epistemic borders. Historically, Canada has been closely allied with the United States yet positioned itself as a subtle counter-culture, importing, adapting, and at times quietly resisting American mainstream psychology. At a moment when the U.S.-Canada relationship has been tested by Trumpism, tariffs, and political turbulence, this history of critical engagement takes on renewed relevance. Looking forward, the dynamics between Canadian and American psychology-and the countries themselves-may generate both opportunity and tension. This address asks: what does it mean to think from Canada rather than merely in it, recognizing the country not as periphery or bridge, but as a distinctive and formative site for theory, history, and qualitative inquiry in its own right.
Dennis C. Wendt is an Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University, where he directs the Cultural and Indigenous Research in Counselling Psychology (CIRC) research group. He also is an Associate Member of the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, and he holds a research fellowship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec. He received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan, followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine. For the past 15 years, he has collaborated with Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States in exploring, developing, and evaluating culturally relevant interventions pertaining to mental health, substance use health, and community wellness. His work is published in over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as American Psychologist, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, and he is the recipient of several early career research awards in qualitative inquiry and theoretical psychology from the American Psychological Association.
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