Book excerpt: Canadian society has changed dramatically since 1960. This work captures the scope and range of these changes through a systematic documentation of seventy-eight social trends. The introduction summarizes and locates the major waves of change. The authors then document each trend in relation to eighteen thematic groups that include age, community, women, labour, management, stratification, social relations, the state, mobilizing institutions, social forces, ideologies, households, lifestyle, leisure, education, integration, and attitudes and values. In contrast to many recent works and journalistic reports, Recent Social Trends in Canada concentrates on the trajectory of change rather than on current events. It provides a longitudinal context in which unfolding events can be interpreted in a broader historical and international context. Comparable volumes in the McGill-Queen's Comparative Charting of Social Change series describe similar tendencies in the United States, Quebec, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Russia, and Bulgaria, making it possible to situate the Canadian experience in a global context.