CanLearn's History

Our Story

In the 1970s, a group of concerned parents led by Dr. Neil Hutton came together to understand better why their children of average or greater intelligence struggled in school and life. As a consortium, this group brought together the Children’s Hospital, School Boards, Kinsmen, the University of Calgary, Alberta Education, Alberta Health and the Learning Disabilities Association.

This group was incorporated under the Provincial Society Act in 1979 and was known as the Calgary Learning Centre. The organization did learning assessments and had a Kindergarten. CanLearn developed a niche in working with ADHD and began programming in family literacy as a preventative strategy for vulnerable children. The organization became The CanLearn Society in 2013.

In July 2015, after being housed in CBE schools for decades, CanLearn moved from Dr. Oakley School to Macleod Square, a location in the beltline.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 crisis, CanLearn began to work more heavily in the mental well-being part of our work and added resources to our counselling services. Our program offerings have changed throughout the years, but our assessment work and commitment to helping individuals with literacy, learning and attention challenges remains the same.