2026 Clean50 Awards Recognize Canadian Trailblazers in Sustainability & Clean Tech

Oct 15th, 2025 7:47 AM

(Toronto, Canada Oct. 15, 2025) The 2026 Clean50 Awards proudly celebrate outstanding leaders and transformative projects committed to sustainability and environmental stewardship. This year, with 20 Emerging Leaders and 5 Lifetime contributors, a total of 74 individual honourees from across Canada have been chosen from a record 1,100 + nominees. Listed below is the list of individual honourees and special projects by category and the jurisdiction they are from.

Gavin Pitchford, CEO of executive search firm Delta Management Group and founder of The Clean50, speaking on behalf of the organizing team, observed “It was both humbling and a very difficult task to have chosen just 74 2026 honourees - the exceptional dedication and innovative approach of all nominees have significantly advanced sustainable practices and embodied the spirit of positive change in our country.”

Pitchford observed, “At this time of transformational change in both climate and the economy, these people represent the people around whom our nation should be built – representing a clean path forward into a world where the demand for clean and climate tech is expected to triple in the next 10 years, as the need for fossil fuels continues to decline. If Canada keeps pace, by 2035 the clean tech industry will contribute twice as much to GDP as the oil and gas industries do now – while they shrink. If we’re going to be “elbows up”, it should definitely be while we’re skating towards where the puck is going to be”.

In addition to recognition of individual contributions, this year the awards highlight 40 groundbreaking projects that exemplify innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges often with a climate focus.

INDIVIDUAL CLEAN50 AWARD WINNERS (by location)

Colour code - White are Clean50. Green Emerging and Gray Lifetime.

Award	Full name	Title – Org	City	Province
Canada's Clean50	Dr. Mina Zarabian	CEO & Co-Founder, Carbonova	Calgary	AB
Canada's Clean50	Bettina Pierre-Gilles, MBA, ICD.D	President & CEO, Luxeum Renewables Group,	Calgary	AB
Emerging Leader	Madison Savilow	Director of Corporate & External Affairs, Carbon Upcycling Technologies	Calgary	AB
Emerging Leader	Shahrukh Shamim, M.Sc.	CEO and Co-Founder, EnviCore	Calgary	AB
Canada's Clean50	Laura S. Lynes, LLM	President/CEO, The Resilience Institute	Canmore	AB
Canada's Clean16	Pamela Goertzen, BMgmt	Executive Director, SSRIA	Edmonton	AB
Canada's Clean16	Richard Ireland, Mayor	Mayor, Municipality of Jasper	Municipality of Jasper	AB
Canada's Clean50	James Dean	CEO, Oxygen8 Solutions	Burnaby	BC
Canada's Clean50	Anita Spiller	Vice President of ESG, Tru Earth Environmental Products	Burnaby	BC
Emerging Leader	Harv Sidhu	CEO, BUILDSMARTR.COM WHOLESALE	Burnaby	BC
Emerging Leader	Molli Bennett	Executive Director, Neighbours United	Castlegar	BC
Canada's Clean50	Jessica McIlroy	Councillor, City of North Vancouver	North Vancouver	BC
Canada's Clean50	Alexis Esseltine, MES	President, Tin Whistle Brewing Co.	Penticton	BC
Canada's Clean16	The Spring Team of Keith Ippel (Co-CEO, Spring Activator); Caroline von Hirschberg (Co-CEO, Spring Activator); Graham Day (Managing Partner, Spring Impact Capital); Olivia Hornby (Managing Partner, Spring Impact Capital)		Vancouver	BC
Canada's Clean16	Alison Coates, BA	Director, Climate Strategy & Performance, Vancity	Vancouver	BC
Lifetime Achievement	Dirk Brinkman	Founder & Senior Advisor, Brinkman & Associates Reforestation	Vancouver	BC
Emerging Leader	Elisabeth Baudinaud	Principal, Carbon Wise	Vancouver	BC
Emerging Leader	Eleanor Eden, CFA	Director, Climate Risk & Sustainable Finance, Delphi	Vancouver	BC
Emerging Leader	Chad Rickaby, MPP,BA	CEO, ClimateDoor	Vancouver	BC
Emerging Leader	Sonia li Trottier	Director, Canada Climate Law Initiative	Vancouver	BC
Emerging Leader	Helen Watts	Executive Director, Student Energy	Vancouver	BC
Canada's Clean16	Julie Angus, B.Sc.,M.Sc.	CEO, Open Ocean Robotics	Victoria	BC
Canada's Clean50	The Fort Capital Team of: Jack Chang (Partner);Paul Austin (Partner); Peter McArthur (Senior Advisor); Ian Tharp (Former Partner)		Vancouver & Toronto	BC & ON
Canada's Clean50	Kaitlyn Gillis, MScArch / EnvPsych	Founder/Principal, Human Nature Connections	Fredericton	NB
Canada's Clean16	Dr. Angela V. Carter	Canada Research Chair in Equitable Energy Policy, Memorial University	St. John's	NL
Emerging Leader	Thomas Green	Chief Executive Officer, EcoAxis	St. John's	NL
Lifetime Achievement	Senator Mary Coyle	Senate of Canada	Antigonish/Ottawa	NS
Canada's Clean16	Sarah Chiasson, MBA	Executive Director HCi3, EfficiencyOne / HCi3	Dartmouth	NS
Emerging Leader	Rachel Mitchell	Director, Community Climate Initiatives, Clean Foundation	Dartmouth	NS
Emerging Leader	Emma Norton	Co-founder and Executive Director, The ReCover Initiative	Dartmouth	NS
Canada's Clean16	Nancy Foran, CPA, FCPA, C.Dir.	President and Founder, ESG Partners	Halifax	NS
Canada's Clean50	Prof. Mita Dasog, PhD,FRSC	Associate Professor, Dalhousie University	Halifax	NS
Emerging Leader	Justin MacDonald, P.Eng	Director, Energy Engineering, EastPoint Engineering	Halifax	NS
Canada's Clean50	Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin	Chief Executive Officer, Nukik Corporation	Rankin Inlet	NT
Canada's Clean16	Russell Wesley	Chief, Bizhiw-zaaga'iganiing Nitam Anishinaabeg (Cat Lake First Nation)	Cat Lake First Nation	ON
Canada's Clean16	Gillian Flies	Executive Director, The New Farm Centre	Creemore	ON
Canada's Clean50	Steven Nitah	Managing Director Canada, Nature for Justice Canada	Guelph	ON
Canada's Clean16	Natalie Schmitt, PhD	Founder/CEO of WildTechDNA, WildTechDNA	Hamilton	ON
Canada's Clean50	Teika Newton, MSc	Executive Director, Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation	Kenora	ON
Canada's Clean50	Wren Montgomery, MBA,PhD	Assoc. Professor of Sustainability, Ivey Business School, Western University	London	ON
Canada's Clean50	Vienna Zhou, M.Eng;MBA	Founder & CEO, TROES Corp.	Markham	ON
Lifetime Achievement	Bruce Ander, P.Eng.	President & CEO, Markham District Energy	Markham	ON
Canada's Clean50	Triveni Singh	Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer, CMI Group	Mississauga	ON
Canada's Clean16	Matt Jamieson, MBA,ICD.D	Chief Executive Officer, Six Nations Development Corporation	Ohsweken	ON
Canada's Clean50	Nicole Hurtubise	Chief Executive Officer, Tree Canada	Ottawa	ON
Canada's Clean50	Caroline Lee	Chief of Staff, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change	Ottawa	ON
Canada's Clean50	The Natural Resources of Canada Team of: Victoria Orsborne, MPA (Director, Cleantech & Innovation Policy); Torben Jensen, BA; (Senior Economist); Sebastien Malherbe, BSc. (Senior Policy Analyst); Morgan Wong, MSc.SM (Senior Policy Coordinator0		Ottawa	ON
Lifetime Achievement	James McNeil	President, JJ McNeil Commercial	Ottawa	ON
Emerging Leader	Dustin Carey, MCC	Lead, Climate Adaptation, Federation of Canadian Municipalities	Ottawa	ON
Emerging Leader	Alex Cool-Fergus	National Policy Manager, Climate Action Network - Réseau action climat Canada	Ottawa	ON
Canada's Clean50	Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk	President & CEO, MIRARCO / E.D., Goodman School of Mines, Laurentian U	Sudbury	ON
Canada's Clean50	Dr. Melissa Lem	President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Kyle Robinson	Chief Redevelopment & Sustainability Officer	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Adria Vasil	Managing editor, Corporate Knights	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Monika Freyman, MSc,CFA	Vice-President, Sustainable Investing, Addenda Capital	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Graham Takata, LEED AP FSA CEM	Director, Climate Change, BMO Global Asset Management	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Sylvia Ng	CEO, ReturnBear	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean16	Chris Bryson	Founder & CEO, NS/TX Industries	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Natalie Ashdown	Co-Founder & COO, Evoco	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean16	Edgecom Team of: Behdad Bahrami (CEO and Co-Founder); Mehdi Parvizi, PhD,P.Eng (CTO)		Toronto	ON
Lifetime Achievement	Kathryn Cooper, B.Sc.(Agr),MBA,M.Ed	Program Manager, Social Responsibility & Sustainability, USMC at UofT	Toronto	ON
Emerging Leader	Dr. Moien Giashi, PhD	Investment Principal, GreenSky Ventures	Toronto	ON
Canada's Clean50	Teresa Sarkesian, MPA,MA	President & CEO, Electricity Distributors Association	Vaughan	ON
Canada's Clean16	Geneviève Paul, LLM	Executive Director, Quebec Environmental Law Centre	Montreal	QC
Canada's Clean50	Beth Hunter	Executive Director, FoodBridge	Montreal	QC
Canada's Clean50	Soula Chronopoulos	President, AquaAction	Montreal	QC
Canada's Clean50	Delia Cristea	Partner, COO and General Counsel, Power Sustainable	Montreal	QC
Canada's Clean16	Francis Fournier, P.Eng	Corporate Director, Green Technologies, Kruger	Montreal	QC
Canada's Clean50	Patrick Racine	CEO, ChillSkyn	Montreal	QC
Emerging Leader	Rosalie Dapra, B.Eng.	Associate Sustainable Finance, National Bank Financial	Montreal	QC
Emerging Leader	Nina Lantinga	CEO, Nets for Net Zero	Montreal	QC
Emerging Leader	Stephen Thomas	Clean Energy Manager, David Suzuki Foundation	Montréal	QC
Emerging Leader	Frédérique Bouchard	Senior Public Affairs Manager, FLO	Quebec City	QC
Canada's Clean50	Francis Allard, B.MechEng	CEO, Groupe Ramo	Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan	QC

At the beginning of the all-day Clean50 Summit and award ceremony held at the Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto. Mr. Pitchford observed, "The Clean50 Awards celebrate those who lead by example, inspiring real change for a healthier planet. Each of 2026 Honourees have set new standards for environmental responsibility, and I know will inspire countless others to follow suit

The Clean50 Awards, now in their 15th year, are Canada’s pre-eminent sustainability awards for individuals and projects, and continue to shine a spotlight on the vital contributions of leaders and project teams working tirelessly to build a cleaner, greener, and more responsible and resilient economy.

For more information about the Clean50 Awards and to learn more about this year's winners, visit https://clean50.com – Media Contact Gavin Pitchford gpitchford@deltamanagement.com

416-925-2005 / 774-330-6606

Clean50 Background - Founded in 2011 by Delta Management Group and CEO Gavin Pitchford, the Canada’s Clean50 award program and Summit aim to address industry siloing in sustainability efforts. Recognizing the need for cross-sector collaboration amid rising climate change awareness, Delta created the awards to highlight leaders from all sectors and the Summit to foster their networking and knowledge sharing. Unlike most similar awards for leadership, the Clean50 members, of whom there are now over 1,000, continue to connect to collaborate, and participate in regular get togethers that inspire still more collaborative efforts.

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2026 Clean50 Awards Recognize Canadian Trailblazers in Sustainability & Clean Tech

Oct 15th, 2025 7:47 AM