Welcome to Our Website
Welcome to the Centre for Inquiry Ontario, Canada's premiere venue for humanists and freethinkers. CFI Ontario's motto is to promote and defend reason, science and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavour. Our headquarters is located at 216 Beverley Street at College, just south of the University of Toronto, in the heart of downtown, at which are located all events unless specified otherwise. Our Centre is open to the public seven days a week from 1:00pm to 9:00pm. Come enjoy our drop-in centre and our public library. Hope to see you soon.
The top links are for CFI Transnational. For CFI Toronto/Ontario specifically, use the links to the right of the skyline image. Please visit "Local Resources" for info on our social/community services, a listing of event videos available for download, our library search engine, news & press releases, etc
For queries, or to get our weekly e-mail digest of events and/or our bimonthly "Freethinker" newsletter with advanced info on services, news and activities send your email and mailing address to .
Featured News
CFI Ontario is Hiring an Intern
The Centre for Inquiry Ontario is Hiring an Intern!
Position starts beginning of June. Deadline to apply: May 27
Thank you all for supporting CFI's successful development and expansion in Canada. To keep up with our flurry of activities, we are ready to immediately bring on board our first paid intern, so please spread the word. The job provides intellectually stimulating work with opportunities for travel, writing, and media appearances.
Last summer several interns supported CFI staff at various Centres for Inquiry throughout North America. One intern helped run the Convocation of Students and Community Leaders at CFI Transnational; another spearheaded student organizing meetings at Manhattan-area colleges; a third assisted with statewide marketing and publicity at CFI Tampa; and a fourth attended congressional briefings while at CFI's D.C. Office of Public Policy.
Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will assist with ongoing programming, event planning and hosting, promotions, newsletter publishing, social services, campus outreach, membership and development committees. He/she will also take charge of special projects at CFI Ontario, such as for example: video processing, library cataloguing and databasing, grant writing, and multimedia projects like podcasts. The individual will also provide assistance where appropriate with ongoing support to our new CFI Communities in Canada and major political initiatives. There will also be numerous leadership opportunities through support staff and volunteer recruitment, training, supervision and delegation.
How to Apply
If you are interested in applying for an internship, please email a cover letter, resume/CV and writing sample as a text, Word or PDF attachment, to Justin Trottier at . Include a brief statement of your academic background, interests, your activities with the skeptic or humanist movements, other extracurricular, community, work or voluntary experience of relevance, and why interning at CFI is something you want to do. You are also encouraged to include any documentation or samples of your relevant experiences (eg. media coverage of your event, political policy statement you wrote, poster you created, etc).
This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the overall growth of the secular community in Canada and to strengthen your relationship with CFI. We hope you will consider joining us.
Position starts beginning of June. Deadline to apply: May 27
Timing/Duration:
The daily and weekly time commitment and position duration are flexible but would start at the beginning of June and last at least until the end of August. Please indicate your daily and weekly availability (full time, part time or something else) and how long you could work, in your application.
Job Requirements:
An understanding of the freethought/humanist/skeptic community and/or some demonstration of commitment to the values of free and critical inquiry is essential.
To perform this job successfully an individual must possess excellent skills in organization, promoting and leading. The individual must also have the ability to exercise independent judgment and manage multiple priorities, the ability to organize and lead volunteers, strong verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to represent CFI via public speaking and media appearances. The job frequently involves speaking in front of crowds, some political lobbying, petitioning or other PR activities for which the successful candidate must be comfortable, experienced and proficient. Knowledge of the non-profit sector and community development strategies is ideal.
Since there is some travel access to own car is very helpful. In addition, because the computer resources at CFI Ontario are limited, access to own laptop is also ideal.
Additional Technical Knowledge
To assist in specific projects, the following technical background is helpful, though not completely required. Candidates without such background should still apply. Candidates with such technical knowledge should highlight it in application:
Web development experience
Basic image editing skills in Adobe Photoshop or similar program
Experience using and maintaining SQL databases (eg. MySQL) or similar technology
Basic understanding of video technology and video editing, uploading and embedding (e.g. through youtube or google video)
Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Microsoft Publisher or similar program for poster and ad creation
Featured Events
THREAT OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT TO THE CORE LIBERTIES OF THE UNITED STATES with Edward Tabash (@ CFI)
May 23Threat of the Religious Right to the Core Liberties of the United States
Eddie Tabash is a constitutional lawyer in the Los Angeles area. He is the chair of the First Amendment Task Force for the Center for Inquiry and for its subsidiary, the Council for Secular Humanism. He is a specialist in the application of the United States Constitution to the controversies swirling round religion and government. He is a two time runner up in elections for the California Legislature. He is an appointee of Congressman Brad Sherman to the State Central Committee of the California Democratic Party. He also chairs the national legal committee for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
He will be making his first election year presentation, outside of the United States, informing Canadians about the grave threat to the very fabric of American modern secular government that is at issue in the current presidential election.
$6 general, $4 students, FREE for Friends of the Centre for Inquiry
CFI Friends of the Centre are invited to our exclusive members catered reception with Mr. Tabash at 6pm
APPRECIATING THE HUMAN PERSPECTIVE, with John Novak (Voices of Reason series @ CFI)
Jun 6"Appreciating the Human Perspective: An Invitation to Educational Living."
Brief Description:
If we cannot get out of the human perspective, then how can we get into it with deeper feeling, thought, and responsible action? Based on his article from Free Inquiry (April/May 2007), this talk will look to what humanists are saying 'yes' to in their personal lives, their relationships, their understandings of the world, their work, and their commitments to the larger social good. An Educational LIVES Model will be offered as a framework for experiencing the connections, complexity, and creativity needed to appreciate, comprehend, and extend the human perspective. A lively and informative session is planned.
Background:
Dr. John M. Novak is professor of education at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. He has been an invited keynote speaker on six
continents, having addressed educational audiences from north of the Arctic Circle to the bottom of New Zealand. His books and monographs, authored, co-authored, and edited, include, Fundamentals of Invitational Education, Creating Inviting Schools, Inviting
Educational Leadership, Democratic Teacher Education, and Inviting Educational Technology. He has written articles for Free Inquiry and spoken to international, national, and local humanist groups. Presently, he is Past-President of the Society of Professors of Education.
http://www.ed.brocku.ca/~jnovak/
Cost: $5 regular, $4 students, FREE For Friends of the Centre for Inquiry
With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe, with Gretta Vosper
Jun 20
Lecture and Book Launch:
Gretta Vosper, United Church Minister at West Hill United Church, Toronto, and founder and Chair of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity
In Gretta Vosper's church there are no prayers, no miracles-performing magic Jesus and no omnipotent God at all. Vosper's book argues that the Christian church, in the form in which it exists today, has outlived its viability and either it sheds its no-longer credible myths, doctrines and dogmas, or it's toast. With a humanist worldview, Vosper proposes a radical change at the heart of faith. The new church she envisions will play a viable and transformative role in the shaping of a future society. What will save the church from certain demise, Vosper argues, is a new emphasis on just and compassionate living.
A catered receptions shall precede the talk at 6pm exclusively for Friends of the Centre.
Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity: http://www.progressivechristianity.ca/ccpc/index.php
MacLeans Magazine coverage "The Jesus Problem": http://www.progressivechristianity.ca/ccpc/index.php
Globe and Mail coverage "Taking Christ Out of Christianity" http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080322.wchurch22/BNStory/National/home
Cost: $6 general, $4 students, FREE for Friends of the Centre
Renowned Toronto-based Mentalist James Biss presents “MIND BLOWING”
Oct 17Renowned Toronto-based Mentalist James Biss presents "MIND BLOWING"







