The Commemorate Canada program, managed by the Government of Canada, provides funding for projects that honor and celebrate significant national milestones, historical events, and influential figures. Its goal is to enhance awareness, appreciation, and understanding of Canada’s rich history, values, culture, and heritage. By offering financial support, the program helps community organizations, educational institutions, and other groups create meaningful commemorative initiatives. A key focus of the program each year is to celebrate significant anniversaries that highlight pivotal moments in Canada’s history.
Our Approach
To celebrate milestone anniversaries highlighted by Commemorate Canada, The Walrus Lab created the Canadian Time Machine podcast and its French counterpart, Voyages dans l’histoire canadienne, with each episode spotlighting a significant anniversary in Canadian history.
What we did
The team conducts in-depth research into Canadian history, drawing from primary sources, historical records, and expert interviews to ensure accuracy and authenticity.
Each episode is carefully crafted to present historical events in a dynamic and accessible way, making complex topics engaging and easy to follow for a wide audience.
We employ professional sound engineering, including music and archival audio, to create an immersive and atmospheric listening experience that enhances the storytelling.
All episodes are transcribed in both English and French, and can be accessed on a dedicated page of The Walrus website.
Results
The first season of the podcast was released in 2022, followed by season two in 2024.
The podcast has a 4.4/5 rating on Apple Podcasts.
Canadian Time Machine has achieved remarkable success, ranking no. 2 in the history podcasts category and no. 34 overall on Apple Podcasts charts in Canada.
Canadian Time Machine was featured on the “We are Loving” and “New & Noteworthy” sections of Apple Podcasts.
There was a 38x increase in downloads and a 786 percent increase in subscribers from season one to season two.
Episodes of Canadian Time Machine have been featured on many other top Canadian history podcasts, including The Secret Life of Canada, Canadian History Ehx, and Curious Canadian History.
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As the executive director, I am frequently asked this question. These days, I reply: “The Walrus was made for this moment.” From on-again, off-again trade news and negotiations to a new prime minister, we are committed to Canada’s conversations. We launched six regional bureaus earlier this year to ensure comprehensive coverage across this great country of ours. But we can’t do this alone. As a non-profit newsroom, this work isn’t possible without our readers’ support. If you believe in Canada’s stories, support our paywall-free journalism with a donation today.
Our team is small, but our commitment is big; just like our country. Every story we publish is the result of writers, artists, and editors going the extra mile (well, kilometres) to bring Canada closer together through compelling, fact-checked, and regionally grounded reporting.
Thank you for your support.
Jennifer Hollett
Executive Director, The Walrus
How’s The Walrus?
As the executive director, I am frequently asked this question. These days, I reply: “The Walrus was made for this moment.” From on-again, off-again trade news and negotiations to a new prime minister, we are committed to Canada’s conversations. We launched six regional bureaus earlier this year to ensure comprehensive coverage across this great country of ours. But we can’t do this alone. As a non-profit newsroom, this work isn’t possible without our readers’ support. If you believe in Canada’s stories, support our paywall-free journalism with a donation today.
Our team is small, but our commitment is big; just like our country. Every story we publish is the result of writers, artists, and editors going the extra mile (well, kilometres) to bring Canada closer together through compelling, fact-checked, and regionally grounded reporting.
