Winners of SSHRC’s Impact Awards
The SSHRC Impact Awards celebrate the achievements of Canada's top leaders, thinkers and researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Finalists embody the very best ideas and research about people, human thought and behaviour, and culture—helping us understand and improve the world around us, today and into the future.
The Gold Medal is SSHRC’s highest research honour. It is awarded to an individual whose sustained leadership, dedication and originality of thought have inspired both students and colleagues.
Myriam Denov
McGill University
“I’m still wrapping my head around it. This award means everything to me. It’s not just a recognition of my work, but also of the importance of research on children and families affected by war.”
The Talent Award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual who, on April 1, 2025, holds a SSHRC doctoral scholarship or fellowship or postdoctoral fellowship. This includes, but is not limited to, a Canada Graduate Scholarship, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship or Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Joshua Steckley
Carleton University
“The ongoing theme of my research is really about capitalism’s control over nature and how that influences control over labour. We really do need to understand this relationship, if we want to have any kind of sustainable future.”
The Insight Award recognizes outstanding achievement arising from a single or multiple SSHRC-funded initiatives. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative(s) have significantly contributed to knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world. The research outcomes must have led to demonstrable impact within the nominee’s fields of research and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
Kamari Maxine Clarke
University of Toronto
“I wondered, what happens when you arm communities with technological, forensic and legal knowledge so they can foster safety in their neighbourhoods, potentially changing their livelihoods and, in turn, their lives?”
The Connection Award recognizes an outstanding SSHRC-funded initiative that facilitates the flow and exchange of research knowledge within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community. It is given to an individual or a team of six people maximum (including the nominee) whose initiative has engaged the campus and/or wider community, and has generated intellectual, cultural, social and/or economic impacts.
Tara McGee and Amy Cardinal Christianson
University of Alberta and Indigenous Leadership Initiative
“We are also focused on advocacy. The reason we do the research is to create change.”
The Partnership Award recognizes a SSHRC‑funded formal partnership for its outstanding achievement in advancing research, research training or knowledge mobilization, or developing a new partnership approach to research and/or related activities. It is awarded to a formal partnership that, through mutual co-operation and shared intellectual leadership and resources, has demonstrated impact and influence within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.
Jason Edward Lewis
Concordia University
“When we started the Initiative for Indigenous Futures, I was kind of worried that people wouldn’t think spending time talking about the future was an important thing we should be doing. So many of the conversations we have as Indigenous people are about the past and the really serious challenges we have in the present. But, we really found the opposite. Indigenous communities were ready, willing and excited to think concretely about the futures they wanted.”