With sadness, we said goodbye to Harry Hillman Chartrand on Thursday, February 19, 2026. Harry was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on January 15, 1948. He was the only child of Alvin and Shirley Chartrand. Growing up Harry lived in Ottawa and Toronto. He received a BA Honors and a MA from Carleton University in Ottawa and a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan.

Harry’s passion was research, particularly in the field of Cultural Economics. After he graduated with his MA in 1971, he started a consultancy company called FUTURES – Socio-Economic Planning Consultants – some of his clients included, the Canadian Bureau of Intellectual Property, the Secretary of State Canada, Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities, and the Public Service Commission, Canada. From 1981-1989, Harry was Research Director for the Canada Council. While working there he designed and implemented an integrated research and evaluation monitoring system, created the largest cultural economic research library in the English-speaking world, prepared the multi-year operational plan and annual $100 million funding application to the federal government. Starting in 1981 until 1994, Harry was the Chief Economist of his own company, Kultural Econometrics International. Some of his clients included the Association for Cultural Economics, Canadian Conference of the Arts, the National Arts Centre of Canada and the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC and he was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Harry was always a champion of the arts and arts education, many organizations benefitted from his work, especially his research into the economic impact of the arts. His work in this area was truly groundbreaking at the time. He was often asked to speak at conferences and to groups who used his work extensively. In 1994, he moved to Saskatoon and started a company called Compiler Press -he worked on a major project – in 2009, he published The Compleat Canadian Copyright Act 1921-2006. During his time in Saskatoon Harry also taught Economics as a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Saskatchewan until illness forced him to stop in 2024. Harry also taught Economics at the University of New Brunswick and the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Harry wrote literally 100s of articles, books, reviews, paper and special studies. His research and writing were not only his job but his recreation, but he also loved films and movies and was an avid collector of books, music and movies. Harry always loved to visit with people and had a real interest in world events and history. When he could take time from his research, he loved to travel and see different places and meet people. He loved his cats, Kloey and Fiona, often playing with them for hours.

We would like to thank the staff at the University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatoon Health Region CPAS Palliative Care at Home Team, the Firefighters from the City of Saskatoon Fire Department – Preston Ave. station, the staff at the Hospice at Glengarda in Saskatoon, and Harry’s good friend Doug Burgess, all of whom supported Harry over the last 10 months. Saskatoon is filled with such kind and caring people. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Hospice at Glengarda (301 Hillard St. E. Saskatoon, S7J0E5) or to SCAT – Street Cat Rescue (2750 Faithfull Ave #108, Saskatoon, Sk. S7K 6M6).