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Engineering education research in Canada is, in many ways, still establishing itself as a discipline, yet much is already being asked of it. The diversity of career pathways for engineering graduates, along with the increased complexity of global engineering challenges and the ramifications of technological opportunities, is raising important questions about current engineering education foci and practices. This paper brings together issues surfaced through the process of compiling a Special Theme on engineering education research in Canada, positioning the collection of papers in terms of the challenges and opportunities faced by this maturing Canadian research community. We seek to reconcile how this research can incorporate the theoretical and methodological depth valued in the social sciences while honoring the focus on effective instructional practices that has become an important strand of inquiry in engineering education. Challenges to the growth of engineering education research, such as funding and graduate student inclusion, are also discussed. In addition, we explore the emergence of teaching stream engineering faculty and problematize the role of research and scholarship in their career trajectories. Finally, we call for more strategic thinking to guide the evolution of engineering education research in Canada. We hope that, collectively, this editorial and the other four papers in this Special Theme will help to stimulate discussion about how we define and recognize excellence in the domain of engineering education research in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]