In 1890, the Institute's founding President, Lieutenant Colonel William Otter, set the objectives of the Institute, to be "the Promotion and Fostering of Military Art, Science and Literature in Canada." Following from that objective, the Institute became a forum for the discussion of matters related to "security and defence." Many of the early lectures and papers delivered to the Institute, from a variety of political and military leaders, were compiled in a number of publications, such as the Selected Papers from the Transactions of the Canadian Military Institute and the RCMI Year Book.

As part of its emphasis on Canadian Military Heritage Studies, the Institute has initiated a series of publications, The Selected Papers, a revised version of the RCMI Heritage Publication series, which will feature reprints of some of the intellectual property unique to our institution. We are pleased to make these Archival resources available to interested members of RCMI, as well as Canadian and foreign researchers. In order to view files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.