Who We Are

The Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP), founded in 1977,  is a national membership organization. We offer professional development, promotion, and support for the creativity, craft, and business practice of creators and performers for children and teens.

As well as 400+ traditionally published Members,  CANSCAIP has 600+ associate Friends that include emerging or self-published writers and illustrators, educators, librarians, publishers, and journalists.

CANSCAIP’s activities and resources include:

  • monthly membership meetings, online on the second Wednesday of each month, featuring expert speakers
  • our annual Packaging Your Imagination conference
  • Writing for Children Competition
  • bi-annual Prairie Horizons conference
  • quarterly newsletter
  • Blue Pencil manuscript evaluation

CANSCAIP is a not-for-profit national arts service organization and a registered charitable organization. We are inclusive, respectful, supportive, professional, welcoming and proudly Canadian.

Our History

CANSCAIP grew out of a Canada Day conference in 1977, organized by the Port Colborne Public Library. Eleven creators for children—writers Claire Mackay, Jean Little, Madeline Freeman, Audrey McKim, Madeline Kronby, Bert Williams, Mike Wilkins and Nancy Cleaver; illustrators Alan Daniel and J. Merle Smith; and performer C. Sam LaBrecque—had been invited to share their expertise.

Many were strangers to each other, and they all realized they needed (and wanted) to know others working in their field. Out of this need for professional connections, CANSCAIP was born.

We celebrated our 40th anniversary in 2017.

WATCH: WELCOME TO CANSCAIP