In the early 1960s, a group of individuals working in academic or
public and private sector areas related to economics began meeting to
hear speakers and exchange ideas. They organized themselves under the
title of the Economics Society of Edmonton. In 1965, they banned
together with a similar group which had developed in Calgary, and
incorporated the Economics Society of Alberta.
The Economics Society of Alberta divided itself into the Edmonton
and Calgary chapters and continued to meet and to grow in both regions.
At least once each year the two chapters would meet in Red Deer.
Eventually, however, members became aware that their interests were
becoming more divergent and that the joint meetings in Red Deer were
receiving less attention.
In 1985, the Calgary chapter of the Economics Society of Alberta
broke away and formed the Economics Society of Calgary and concentrated
their focus on issues related to energy.
A year later, in 1986, the Economics Society of Alberta changed its
name to the Economics Society of Northern Alberta to better reflect its
sphere of influence and region of concern. The Economics Society of
Northern Alberta remains committed to bringing members and the public
the best in their fields to address the hot economic topics of the day.
The fiscal year of the Society originally ran to June 30th. At the
time of the name change the Society changed the membership and fiscal
years to conform to the calendar year.
In 2005 the Economics Society of Northern Alberta celebrated the
twentieth anniversary of its name change and in 2006, the Society
celebrated 40 years since incorporation.