History Of Scouting

Scouting began in 1907 when Lt. Gen. Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell took a group of youth to a camp on Brownsea Island. The Movement was incorporated as "The Boy Scout Association" throughout the Commonwealth by Royal Charter granted by King George V in 1912.

There is evidence that a few Scouting groups started up in Canada in 1907. The Canadian General Council of the Boy Scout Association was incorporated by an act of the Canadian Parliament on June 12, 1914. The Canadian General Council was a branch of the Boy Scout Association until October 30, 1946, when it became an independent member of the Boy Scout World Conference. A subsequent amendment changed the name to Boy Scouts of Canada. In 2007, our Centennial Year, our name was officially changed by an act of Parliament to Scouts Canada.

B.P. wrote to The Earl Grey in 1910 to ask him to organize Scouting in Canada. Since that time, every Governor General has been either the Chief Scout for Canada (prior to 1946) or Chief Scout of Canada (after 1946). The current Governor General and Chief Scout is His Excellency David Johnston.

Today, more than 28 million youth and adults, boys and girls, take part in Scouting programs in 155 countries and territories worldwide.

Scouts Canada, the country’s leading youth organization, offers seven challenging programs for boys, girls and youth age 5-26 in thousands of individual groups in most cities and towns across Canada. Over 74,000 young people enjoy Scouts Canada’s programs, which are provided by 23,000 caring and dedicated volunteers. Scouts Canada’s national office is located in Ottawa.

Scouts Canada is a not-for-profit organization (Charitable Registration No. 10776 1694 RR0028) and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.