Becoming a Centre

Becoming a Centre of the RASC

The RASC is synonymous with both Canada and astronomy. Centres, and their individual members, enjoy many benefits and services that help to make running a local astronomy club easier to manage and more fun to participate in. In short, we help you spend more time doing astronomy and less time doing club administration.

Centre Benefits

As a Centre of the RASC your astronomy club will enjoy:

  • Centralized membership administration and management
  • Credit-card processing for new memberships and renewals
  • Public liability insurance for public events sponsored by your Centre
  • Free publicity for Centre events in RASC publications and on the RASC National website
  • Exclusive Centre pricing on RASC merchandise purchased for resale, including:
    • RASC Observer's Calendar
    • RASC Observer's Handbook
    • Beginner's Observing Guide
    • Skyways Teacher's Guide
    • RASC Promotional Merchandise
  • Access to DNS, email lists, and redirects offered by the Information Technology Committee
  • Access to RASC Centre newsletters from across the country providing you with valuable content for your own publications

In addition, your membership will enjoy all of the benefits of RASC membership including our publications, services, and member discounts.

What is Involved?

Eligible Groups

Any group of persons generally residing within an identifiable geographic region or political division in Canada may request recognition as a “Centre” of the Society. The group should have had an active interest in astronomy for at least one year, and there must be a minimum of 20 persons prepared to be members of the Society.

Basic Requirements

The astronomy group proposing to become a Centre must present a draft set of by-laws specifying the formal organization of the proposed Centre. The Society makes available a sample Centre by-laws making this work easy. Upon review by the Constitution Committee a special resolution of the National Council is all that is required to form a new Centre.

Centre Name and Legal Organization

Each Centre shall be known as either "The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, ______ Centre", or "La Société Royale d’Astronomie du Canada, Centre (or Section de) _____", or both, which name shall include the applicable geographic region or political division as prescribed by the National Council.

A Centre may be an unincorporated association or may become incorporated under applicable legislation.