The Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity recognizes the contributions that Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Louise Forsyth, Glenis Joyce, Audrey Kobayashi, Shree Mulay, Susan Prentice, Michèle Ollivier and Wendy Robbins have made to increase the level of equity within the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) and Canada’s research ecosystem more broadly, by way of their 2003 Canadian Human Rights complaints and their concerted efforts in the mediation processes, which led to both the 2006 Settlement Agreement and its addendum in 2019.
Three awards valued at $100,000 are conferred annually through a formal peer review process.
Institutions that are eligible for the CRCP are invited to nominate an eligible faculty member or a team of eligible faculty members, each year, who will lead bold and potentially game-changing initiatives that will challenge the status quo, spark change and take action to address persistent systemic barriers in the research ecosystem and academia.
Winners of the 2025 award competition
| Awardee(s) |
Institution |
Award value |
Project title |
Project summary |
| Desmond Moser |
Western University |
$100,000 |
A Circle for Connecting Western University Researchers with Local Indigenous Research Priorities |
Western University will establish Canada’s first Indigenous Community Research Circle—a sustainable, institution-wide mechanism that shifts power to Indigenous communities to set research priorities, provide ethical oversight and choose collaborative partnerships. Currently, Indigenous communities face unsustainable burdens from fragmented research requests while researchers lack pathways for respectful engagement, perpetuating colonial practices and risking harm. The Circle— comprised of local First Nations, Métis, and Indigenous organizations—transforms this dynamic through direct community-researcher dialogue. With a sustainable fee-for-service model and comprehensive guide, this first-of-its-kind initiative will serve as a replicable national template for reconciliation through research. |
| Sophie Yohani |
University of Alberta |
$100,000 |
Pathway to Addressing Barriers, Needs, and Possibilities for NEET Black Youth in an Alberta Postsecondary Institution: An Actionable Institutional Change Initiative |
This initiative aims to harness and leverage the University of Alberta’s institutional resources to identify pathways to engage and respond to the needs of Black youth not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Alberta. It will address the critical needs of youth caught between secondary and postsecondary training and who lack structured resources and guidance. The initiative will be guided by an intersectional, multi-method community-engaged participatory research approach, which aims to engage partners collaboratively, addressing a shared social concern, while recognizing the experiences of NEET Black youth from rural, francophone, and urban communities in Alberta. |
| Rebekah Eatmon |
Simon Fraser University |
$100,000 |
Indigenous Pathways Acceleration Hub: Advancing Indigenous inclusion in medical education |
With this funding, we will develop and implement an Indigenous Pathways Acceleration Hub (the “Hub”) at Simon Fraser University’s School of Medicine (SoM). Activities include training Indigenous student ambassadors; partnering with the Surrey school district to provide secondary students with culturally grounded STEM/healthcare learning and mentorship; and creating an Indigenous admissions support program in the SoM. We will co-create these activities with Indigenous partners and students and embed Indigenous knowledge systems within the academic admissions process. This flagship initiative aims to advance equity in medicine by improving the experience of Indigenous learners. |