The Canadian Nautical Research Society / Société canadienne pour la recherche nautique (CNRS / SCRN) was originally established as the Canadian Society for the Promotion of Nautical Research, then incorporated 25 October 1984 under its current name and achieved the status of a registered charity shortly thereafter. The objectives of the Society are: * to promote nautical research in Canada * to disseminate the results of such research, and * to encourage an awareness of Canada's maritime heritage To those ends, the Society publishes in association with the North American Society for Oceanic History a quarterly journal The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord and a quarterly newsletter Argonauta; holds an annual conference; and makes several awards: * the Jacques Cartier MA Prize in Maritime Affairs, to encourage graduate students at the Master's level * the Gerry Panting Award, which is a bursary to a young scholar to attend the annual conference to present a paper, and * the Keith Matthews Awards, named in honour of the Society's first President, to recognize outstanding publications in the field of nautical research. The Society is also the Canadian national sub-commission of the International Commission for Maritime History.