Public Relations Journal Vol. 11 Issue 3 (February 2018) © 2018 Institute for Public Relations 1 Global Capabilities in Public Relations Amy Thurlow Mount Saint Vincent University Alexandre Sévigny McMaster University Mark Dottori University of Ottawa Abstract This research provides insights into the Canadian arm of a global initiative to identify capabili- ties in public relations and communication management. The Global Capabilities project, is ded- icated to surfacing the core capabilities required by and reflected in the public relations disci- pline. This paper articulates the findings from Canada, in phase one of this project. Results in- dicate that academics, practitioners and employers appear to have agreement around the central nature of two capabilities: planning communication to be in alignment with strategic purpose and the ability to apply critical thinking and problem solving to organizational issues. Introduction The Global Capabilities project 1 , is a nine-country, two-year undertaking dedicated to surfacing the core capabilities required by and reflected in the public relations discipline. This paper articulates the findings from Canada 2 , one of the partner countries in this study, in the first phase of this three-phase project. In this phase researchers employed a Delphi technique to gath- er data from experts in the field of public relations to identify core capabilities required by practi- tioners. Specifically, this research sought to; i) to provide a holistic, humanistic, and cultural un- derstanding of professional capabilities required in Canadian public relations, and through infer- ence, the profession in general, ii) provide critical insights into public relations theory for schol- ars, and (iii) assist professional bodies and educators to assess priorities and future directions for the public relations field. Public relations has been characterized as an applied science and a management disci- pline in communication theory (Pieczka & L’Etang, 2006). The term public relations is not a neutral technical term, but a concept that connotes different meanings in different cultural con- 1 The Global Capability Framework for Public Relations and Communications Management is a two-year research project (2016-2018) designed to be used by PR professional bodies and practitioners around the world, as well as influencing curricula. It is funded by the University of Huddersfield (Principal Investigator is Dr. Johanna Fawkes) and supported by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA). https://www.hud.ac.uk/about/schools/huddersfield-business-school/research/gcpr/ 2 The authors thank the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) for its support of this research. We are indebted to previous work on KSAs and a Global Body of Knowledge supported by CPRS and lead by researchers including Jean Valin and Dustin Manley.