The Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC) recognizes exceptional individuals who have demonstrated sustained excellence and leadership in advancing science and innovation policy in Canada. This award honours individuals whose careers have had a significant, lasting, and meaningful impact on the Canadian science policy landscape, and who have consistently championed and inspired the science and innovation policy community over many years. Each individual may receive the Science Policy Lifetime Achievement Award only once.
Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award are nominated and selected by the CSPC Board of Directors.
CSPC welcomes recommendations from individuals and organizations wishing to bring forward the names of candidates whose professional achievements and contributions merit consideration for this distinction. The CSPC is firmly committed to the principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and encourages the nomination of individuals from all backgrounds, sectors, and communities.
Check out previous recipients of the Science Policy Life Time Achievement Awards here.
All received recommendations will be reviewed and considered by the CSPC Board of Directors. To recommend an individual for consideration, please contact in [email protected].
2025
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Dr. Rémi Quirion
Chief Scientist of Québec, President of INGSA
Dr. Rémi Quirion has been selected as the recipient of the CSPC 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his extraordinary and long-term contributions to science, innovation, and public policy in Quebec, Canada and internationally.
As Québec’s first Chief Scientist, Dr. Quirion has been a tireless advocate for interdisciplinary research, international collaboration, and public engagement with science. He has elevated Québec’s standing as a global leader in science and innovation and become one of Canada’s foremost champions of science diplomacy, fostering strong ties with the Francophonie, the Global South, and other partners worldwide.
2022 – Lifetime Achievement Award Winner:
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Citizen Advocate on Environmental, Cultural and Human Rights
Sheila Watt-Cloutier has been selected as a result of so many years of exceptional contribution and leadership over the course of her career in bringing Indigenous perspectives and knowledge to national and international policymaking, in particular on environmental health, sustainability and preservation.
She has raised awareness of the threat of climate change in the Arctic and its relationship to human rights and Indigenous rights in Canada, and globally, She has been clearly articulating the interconnectedness of Inuit culture, the environment, the economy, foreign policy, global health, and sustainability. Her work with the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment integrated traditional and western knowledge and evidence, bringing a human face to climate change in the Arctic. She has inspired the science policy community across Canada with her insights, courage, and voice.
