The Editor wishes to acknowledge the generous financial assistance of the following organizations:
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
The Canada Council
The Ontario Arts Council
The Ontario Heritage Foundation
The Samuel & Saidye Bronfman Foundation
The Massey Foundation
Without this vital support, this project would not have been possible. A work of this magnitude has been a collective effort of many knowledgeable individuals. No single person could have undertaken the voluminous amount of research necessary to complete the work.
Special mention must be made of the debt I owe to several individuals who have contributed substantially to the level of consistency, accuracy and completeness of this Dictionary. Stephen A. Otto has offered valuable information and advice throughout the twenty year gestation period of this project, and undertook to read, page by page, the entire manuscript as well as dozens of early newspapers from Ontario and Quebec in order to extract hitherto unknown information about architects and their buildings. Kent Rawson, Architect, OAA, MRAIC devoted nearly four years to the examination of newspapers from Toronto, Hamilton and other localities from 1845 to 1890 and has uncovered, for the first time, thousands of tender calls linking architects to specific works, many of which still stand today. Prof. Douglas S. Richardson of the University of Toronto freely imparted his knowledge of architectural history and advised on the direction and content of the Dictionary in its early stages.
Many scholars have been very liberal in generously sharing with me the results of their researches on architects in several localities in Canada, including Charles Addington (London, Ont. and Saint John, N.B.), Margaret Angus (Kingston), Robert Boyce, Architect, NBAA (Saint John and New Brunswick region), Gordon Fulton (Moose Jaw), Robert Lemire (Montreal), Prof. Luc Noppen (Quebec City), Prof. Shane O'Dea (St. John's, Nfld.), Dennis Person (Edmonton), Larry Pfaff (St. Marys), the late Irene Rogers (Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island region), Randy Rostecki (Winnipeg and Manitoba region), and Garry Shutlak (Halifax and Nova Scotia region).
Using funds provided by the agencies noted above, the Editor has employed several talented research assistants who have spent months (and in some cases years) gathering important data from periodicals and newspapers published in Canada, the United States and in Britain. These staff members include Dr. Annmarie Adams, Ms. Daniele Andre, Paul Dilse, Ivan Franko, Rejean Lapointe, Marcelle-Florence Lebeau, Howard Shubert, David Sobel, and Ms. Kim Turner.
In the early stages of this project several knowledgeable scholars and archivists provided generous assistance and advice, and I am indebted to these individuals who include Dorothy Ahlgren, James Anderson, Peter Anthony, Peter Arends, Moira Armour, Jeanne Arnold, Steve Barber, Carl Betke, James Bettley, Richard Bishop, Prof. John Bland, Dr. Elizabeth Bloomfield, Anthony Bolger, Vivienne Bruce, Christina Cameron, Douglas E. Cass, Geoffrey Castle, David Chamberlin, Sir Howard Colvin, Judith Colwell, William Cooper, Diana Cooper, the late Gordon Couling, William M. Curran, David Dean, Lynne DiStefano, Neil Einarson, J. Ross Esslemont, OAQ, the late Dennis S. Francis, Gordon Fulton, Isobel Ganton, Jean-Marc Garant, Jacques Grimard, Brian Hallett, Robert Hamilton, Mrs. E. Hippe, Harry Holman, Barbara Humphreys, Robert Hunter, Ellen James, Dana Johnson, Dr. Hal Kalman, Ruth Kamen, Linda Kearns, Mrs. Leith Knight, Frank Korvemaker, Ed Krahn, Phyllis Lambert, Robert Laplante, Omer Lavallee, Serge Lavoie, Roxanne Leonard, Anthony Lever, Donald Luxton, Angela Mace, Ian MacIntosh, Bill MacKinnon, the late Marion MacRae, the late Pamela Manson-Smith, Robert S. McCague, John E. McIssac, the late Evelyn McMann, Peter McVey, Brian Melnyk, Shirley Morriss, Sue Murdoch, Eileen A. Nayda, Daniel Olivier, Helene C. Peters, Ed Phelps, Edward F. Pike, Mildred Pulleyblank, Ronald L.M. Ramsay, A.J.H. Richardson, Carol Rosevear, Donald K. Roy, Gertrude C. Russell, George A. Schuyler, Martin Segger, Alan Smith, SAA, Randall Speller, Christopher Thomas, Raymond Tribeck, OAA, Susan Wagg, Annalise K. Walker, Dale E.A. Wilson, Ruth D. Wilson, and Ms. Garron Wells.