The Institute was most directly associated with the PASTS' national CATI telephone survey which gathered information from a representative sample of Canadians about the ways they think about the past, remember the past, and may keep it alive for family members and friends. From the spring of 2007 through the spring of 2008, interviews were conducted, in both official languages, with more than 3,000 adult Canadians. The random sample of Canadian households was stratified into five regions: Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairie provinces, and British Columbia. Additional interviews were conducted in several cities, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. ISR also conducted an additional 100 interviews with Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan, 100 interviews with Acadians in New Brunswick, and 100 interviews with new immigrants in the Regional Municipality of Peel.

The larger PASTS project includes a number of other partners involved in a variety of research activities in all regions across the country. This project was conducted on behalf of a team of Canadian historians and researchers, led by Dr. Jocelyn Létourneau (U. Laval). Co-investigators included Dr. Margaret Conrad (U. of New Brunswick), Dr. Kadriye Ercikan (U. of British Columbia), Dr. Gerald Friesen (U. of Manitoba), Dr. Delphin Muise (Carleton U.), ISR's Associate Director David Northrup (York U.), and Dr. Peter Seixas (UBC). Funding was provided by the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, and the project was also supported financially by Université Laval. At the Institute, this project was directed by John Pollard.