The Royal Canadian Geographical Society was founded in 1929 with a mandate "to make Canada better known to Canadians and to the world". This mandate is fulfilled mainly through publication of the Society’s magazines, Canadian Geographic in English and géographica in French, and through the Society’s education, lectures, research grants and expeditions programs.

The Society is one of Canada’s largest non-profit educational organizations and is funded primarily by membership fees and generous donations. The Society’s Board of Governors and its program committees are comprised entirely of volunteers.