With increasing archaeological interest in the recent past, the archaeology of the contemporary world has developed in recent years into a legitimate subfield of archaeology which seeks to develop a material understanding of the sociopolitical and economic history of the late 20th and early 21st century. Themes such as social housing, homelessness, poverty, and exclusion, which disproportionately affect First Nations people in Canada, have emerged as particularly salient; the field also provides a unique context for thinking about heritage policies, migration, tourism, public and collaborative projects, centered on the relationship of contemporaneity between the archaeologist and her or his research community. For this session, we would like to extend an invitation to contemporary archaeologists working creatively on a Canadian topic or from a Canadian institution. Our focus is on the period between the end of the Second World War and the present, and particularly on the impact of the welfare state and subsequent rise of neoliberalism on the wellbeing of contemporary societies, and especially First Nations groups. Papers focusing on earlier topics that bear on the recent past and the present are welcome.