6 Degrees connects thinkers and doers to drive the global conversation on inclusion and citizenship.

6 Degrees challenges our unsettled age. It is about what we can do to counter rising nativism and exclusion, and how we can go about doing it. 6 Degrees is about connection, conversation, artistic representation, online engagement, and the power that comes from bringing people together. It is also about language: how better language can make for better thinking; how we can reframe issues to open hearts and change minds.

John Ralston Saul
The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson
Charlie Foran

Read the letter from the co-chairs of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC)

6 Degrees Toronto

6 Degrees Toronto involves the brightest minds and the boldest methods, bringing thinkers, doers, executives, artists, politicians, and civil society leaders together in order to get them talking about what is really happening in the world. Presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, the immersive annual three-day Toronto event anchors a series of one-day pop-up events across Canada and around the world. To date, 6 Degrees has brought the global conversation on citizenship and inclusion to Vancouver, Calgary, The Hague, St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Berlin. In 2019, 6 Degrees Toronto will take place September 23–25.

Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship

The Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship is awarded annually to a leader whose life has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the ideals of belonging and inclusion. Through words, actions and results, this individual has encouraged thought and dialogue, approaches and strategies that strive to remove barriers, change attitudes, and reinforce the principles of tolerance and respect. Laureates have included Margaret Atwood (2018), Ai Weiwei (2017), and His Highness the Aga Khan (2016). Learn more

LaFontaine-Baldwin Lectures

The annual LaFontaine-Baldwin Lectures gather Canadians to reflect on democracy, citizenship, and the public good. Established by John Ralston Saul, and hosted for the past decade by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, several prominent thinkers, including Sue Gardner, Michael Sandel, Naomi Klein, George Erasmus, Louise Arbour, the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Robert Lepage, Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, and Naheed Nenshi, have delivered talks. For more information, click here.

Research

Research is an important part of the work of 6 Degrees and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. Past reports include:

• Closed Shops: Making Canada’s engineering profession more inclusive of international engineers, by Lauren Heuser
• Reconciliation beyond the Box: The UN Declaration and Plurinational Federalism in Canada, in partnership with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
• All of Us: What We Mean When We Talk About Inclusion, in partnership with RBC
• Closed Shops: Opening Canada’s Legal Profession to Foreign-Educated Lawyers, by 6 Degrees-CIGI Fellow Lauren Heuser
• New Canadian Entrepreneurs: An Underappreciated Contribution to Canadian Prosperity? by 6 Degrees-CIGI Fellow Bessma Momani
• Open for Business: Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Canada, by 6 Degrees-Vancity Fellows Ricardo Meilman Lomaz Cohn and Eric Adebayo