February 1939 - October 2026

Carl Berger, a renowned Canadian academic, and Professor Emeritus of Canadian history at the University of Toronto, has passed away at the age of 87 in Toronto.

Born in The Pas, Manitoba, in 1939, Carl earned his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Manitoba, graduating with the University's Gold Medal. He completed his graduate studies at the University of Toronto Department of History, where he would go on to teach for nearly forty years.

Carl spent nearly four decades shaping the study of Canada's history. He taught at the University of Toronto from his appointment in 1966 until his retirement in 2003, where he transformed the fields of Canadian intellectual history and historiography. His seminal 1976 work, The Writing of Canadian History, earned widespread critical acclaim and won the Governor General's Award. Recognized as an innovative scholar and a leading historian of his generation, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1976 and was awarded the prestigious J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal in 1984.

His first major book, The Sense of Power (1970), reshaped historical views on Canadian imperialism and was named one of the twenty best books published in Canada since 1940. The Writing of Canadian History (1976), earned him the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction, solidifying his legacy as a pioneer in Canadian letters. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) and a recipient of the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal.

Alongside his scholarly pursuits, Carl was an avid reader with bookshelves heavy with historical and natural world volumes. He enjoyed watching CBC news and NHL hockey, slapping his knee with delight when his team scored.. He was an enthusiastic, meticulous birder who tracked and recorded species around the world, travelling to find unique birds for his significant checklist.

Carl was a naturalist and much of his retirement was spent enjoying his country retreat surrounded by forest in Haliburton. He deeply valued the peaceful times he spent there reading, tending vegetable and dahlia gardens, and deer and bird watching.

Carl is survived by his wife, Laurel Sefton MacDowell, his younger sister, Eileen and her husband John, his two daughters, Rachel and Clare, his son-in-law Michael and five grandchildren: Noah, Leo, Sasha, Joshua, and Sofia, stepchildren Jen and Lawrence, and his step-grandchildren Callan and Hugh.

A Celebration of Life for Carl will be on October 24 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre, 375 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto. The family would like to thank the staff at The Grenadier retirement home and the West Park Long Term Care Centre for their expert care and genuine kindness.