A non-profit research organization founded in May 1973 to investigate all aspects of Canadian literature, publishing and culture. Originally staffed by English Department students from Glendon College and York University, the foundation operated out of Peterborough, Ontario, later moving to Victoria, British Columbia. CANLIT carried out a number of surveys relating to Canadian literature, for example, publishers' sales statistics, use in school English curricula, readership, etc., and published a number of books between 1974 and 1980 based on analyses of the surveys. Also published Paper phoenix : a history of book publishing in English Canada (1980). Peter Birdsall, Dolores Broten and Gail Donald, among others, have been active in the organization from its inception.