 In the 1940s , Harold Innis reached the height of his influence in both academic circles and Canadian society . In 1941 , he helped establish the American @-@ based Economic History Association and its Journal of Economic History . He later became the association 's second president . Innis played a central role in founding two important sources for the funding of academic research : the Canadian Social Science Research Council ( 1940 ) and the Humanities Research Council of Canada ( 1944 ) . 
