The Laurier Economics Department mourns the passing of William “Bill” Marr, Professor Emerius of Economics. Bill, who passed away suddenly on July 2, 2026, played a significant role in the evolution of WLU. He joined Waterloo Lutheran University in the fall of 1970 and contributed 39 wonderful years to teaching, service and research before retiring in 2009.

When Bill first joined the university, WLU had 2,000 students and the department had seven faculty members. The teaching load was three full year - September to April – courses, later changed to three courses per term for two terms. The university did not receive full provincial funding then but in 1973, much to almost everyone’s relief, full provincial funding was received and the university was renamed Wilfrid Laurier University. The University has since changed considerably but Bill helped shaped the department and the university as we know it today, as an educator, scholar and administrator. 

Bill received his PhD from Western University, with his thesis: “The economic impact of Canadian inward and outward migration and their determinants, 1950-1967.”  This rigorous analysis of an important question forecast the quality and impact of his future research.  He published papers on topics including immigration, inter-provincial migration, the use of unemployment insurance by immigrants, household life cycles and spending patterns, and writing tutors in economics classes. Many of his articles were with other members of the department. His co-authored book “Canada: An Economic History” was a significant contribution to the discipline and economic education. An indication of his reputation in the study of immigration was his appointment as the Canadian delegate to discussions on immigration at OECD headquarters in Paris in the 1980s.

Bill taught a variety of courses, including Economic History of Canada, European Economic History, Economic Research Methodology, Intermediate Macro, and Empirical Research and Information Sources. Former students have called him an ‘amazing professor’ and “brilliant educator.”

Service to the university was important to Bill. He served as the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and Associate Director of Instructional Development. He was also Chair of the Research Ethics Board which reviews the ethical acceptability of proposed or ongoing research involving humans. This is a considerable responsibility and necessary to maintain the university’s eligibility with granting agencies.         

In his teaching, research, and service Bill was dedicated, thorough, precise, and reliable. His integrity and sound judgment were models to faculty and students. He was always open to the requests and ideas of others. You could not ask for a better colleague. Several faculty members have appreciated the mentoring they received from him. Bill Morrison fondly remembers Bill Marr taking him on a tour of the area and answering questions during Dill’s visit for a job interview.

Beyond the campus Bill participated in a number of activities with members of the department and others, including, golf, card games, and curling. A faculty curling team of Bill, Peter Sinclair, David Pierson of biology, and a fourth volunteer played in Laurier’s student intramural curling league, and were league champions several years.     

In retirement Bill took up lawn bowling and was active with Kitchener’s Heritage Greens Lawn Bowling Club. He and his wife Marion continued to enjoy symphony concerts, the theatre, and travelling. Bill was also a regular at retirees’ monthly luncheons, one of the places he will be greatly missed.      

The LED thanks Professor Emeritus Frank Millerd for his contribution to this piece.

Did you know Laurier’s economics department has a newsletter that you can subscribe to? Sign up at: https://bit.ly/lednewsletter . You can check out all of our articles hot off the presses as they come out on the site (accessed through the link) as well! 

Bill Marr:  A likely incomplete bibliography

Dissertation

Marr, William Lewis. The economic impact of Canadian inward and outward migration and their determinants, 1950-1967. 1973.

Books/monographs

Marr, William L., and Donald G. Paterson. Canada: An Economic History. Toronto: Gage, 1980.

Marr, William L., and Baldev Raj. "How economists explain: a reader in methodology." (No Title) (1983).

Articles, book chapters, policy papers

Marr, William L. "The expanding role of government and wars: a further elaboration." Public Finance= Finances publiques 29.3-4 (1974): 416-421.

Marr, William L. "Canadian immigration policies since 1962." Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques (1975): 196-203.

Marr, William L. "Economic Determinants of Migration, Canada, 1950-1967." Nebraska Journal of Economics and Business 14.1 (1975): 47-62.

Marr, William L. Labour Market and Other Implications of immigration policy for Ontario. No. 1. Ontario Economic Council, 1976.

Marr, William L. "Canadian immigration policy and migrant response to labour market conditions." Canadian Studies in Population [ARCHIVES] (1976): 29-40.

Marr, William L. "Net Inward Migration and the Canadian Economy 1950–1967." The American Economist 20.1 (1976): 51-58.

Marr, William L. "On'The Economics of Lincoln's Proposal for Compensated Emancipation'." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 35.1 (1976): 105-107.

Marr, William L. "The United Kingdom's international migration in the inter-war period: Theoretical considerations and empirical testing." Population Studies 31.3 (1977): 571-579.

Marr, William L. "Employment Visas and the Canadian Labour Force." Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques 3.4 (1977): 518-524.

Marr, William L. "On Bonuses to End Job Discrimination." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 37.1 (1978): 102-105.

Marr, W. L., D. J. McCready, and F. W. Millerd. "Canadian interprovincial migration and education, 1966-1971." Canadian Studies in Population (1978): 1-11.

Marr, William L., and Frank W. Millerd. "Employment income levels of inter-provincial migrants versus non-migrants, Canada, 1971." Research in population economics 2 (1980): 43-62.

Marr, William L. "The wheat economy in reverse: Ontario's wheat production, 1887-1917." The Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'Economique 14.1 (1981): 136-145.

McCready, Douglas J., and William L. Marr. "Supply-Side Tax Changes and the Canadian Economy." Can. Tax'n 3 (1981): 239.

Marr, William L. "Sons of immigrants' earnings: Canada and the United States." Canadian Studies in Population  (1981): 49-55.

Marr, William L., and M. Percy. "Immigration policy and Canadian economic growth." Domestic Policies and the International Economic Environment. University of Toronto Press, Toronto (1985).

Marr, William L. "Nuptiality, total fertility and marital fertility in Upper Canada, 1851: A study of land availability, urbanization and birthplace." Canadian Studies in Population [ARCHIVES] (1986): 1-18.

Marr, W. L. "Are the Canadian foreign-born under-represented in Canada’s occupational structure?” International Migration 24.4 (1986): 769-775.

Marr, William L. "The Distribution of Tenant Agriculture: Ontario, Canada, 1871." Social Science History 11.2 (1987): 169-186.

Marr, William L., and Frank W. Millerd. "Migration and the employment status of married women." Canadian Journal of Regional Science 11.1 (1988): 119-132.

Marr, W. L., and D. J. McCready. "The Expenditure Patterns of the Canadian‐born and the Foreign‐born in Canada." International Migration 26.3 (1988): 311-326.

Marr, William L. "Nineteenth Century Tenancy Rates in Ontario's Counties, 1881 and 1891." Journal of Social History 21.4 (1988): 753-764.

Marr, William L., and Pierre L. Siklos. "The link between immigration and unemployment in Canada." Journal of Policy Modeling 16.1 (1994): 1-25.  

Marr, William L., and Pierre L. Siklos. "Immigration and unemployment: A Canadian macroeconomic perspective." Diminishing returns: The economics of Canada’s recent immigration policy (1995): 293-330.

Marr, William L. "Post-War Canadian Immigration Patterns." The Immigration Dilemma, Vancouver: The Fraser Institute (1992): 17-42.

Marr, William L. "Micro and Macro Land Availability as a Determinant of Human Fertility in Rural Canada West, 1851." Social Science History 16.4 (1992): 583-590.

Marr, William L., and DOUGLAS MC CREADY. "Aging of the population and spending patterns in Canada 1984 and 1986." Genus (1993): 97-119.

MARR, WILLIAM L., and DOUGLAS J. McCREADY. "Housing quality and affordability among female householders in Canada." Genus (1997): 215-241.

Siklos, Pierre L., and William L. Marr. "The unemployment insurance compensation experience of immigrants in Canada, 1980–1988." Journal of Population Economics 11.1 (1998): 127-147.

BARTEL, HENRY, and WILLIAM L. MARR. "Demographics and Housing in Canada." Readings in Canadian Real Estate (2004): 50.

Book reviews

Marr, William L. "A History of Lumbering in Maine, 1861–1960. By David C. Smith. Orono: University of Maine Press, 1972. Pp. xvi, 469. $9.00." The Journal of Economic History 33.4 (1973): 906-907.

Marr, William L. "The Mill on the Boot, The Story of the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company. By Murray Morgan. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1982. Pp. x, 286. $19.95." The Journal of Economic History 43.4 (1983): 1052-1053.

Marr, William L. "Empire of Wood: The MacMillan Bloedel Story. by Donald MacKay. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1982. Pp. 361. $24.95." The Journal of Economic History 43.4 (1983): 1055-1056.

Marr, William L. "The Prosperous Years: The Economic History of Ontario, 1939–75 by KJ Rea." The Canadian Historical Review 67.4 (1986): 636-637.

Marr, William L. "Wood and Water: The Story of Seaboard Lumber and Shipping. By EG Perrault. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986. Pp. 320. $24.95." The Journal of Economic History 48.2 (1988): 513-514.

Marr, William L. "Book Review: Rights of Passage: Emigration to Australia in the Nineteenth Century." (1988): 157-158.

Marr, William L. "Book Review: Ideology and Immigration, Australia 1976 to 1987." (1991): 204-205.