Victor Marchessault Advocacy Award
Throughout its history, what has made the Canadian Paediatric Society unique among similar organizations is its relentless advocacy to ensure that children and youth have access to the best possible care.
The CPS established the Victor Marchessault Advocacy Award to honour individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Canada’s children and youth at the local, provincial, or national level. Presented every two years, this award recognizes the diverse ways that Canadians help make life better for children and youth.
The award is presented during the CPS Annual Conference. The recipient is awarded a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 prize. Recipients also receive a complimentary one year membership to the CPS.
Awarded every other year, the next award will be presented in 2026.
Current recipient(s): Dr. Ripudaman Minhas
Our winner of Victor Marchessault Advocacy Award, Dr. Ripudaman Minhas, is being recognized as a ‘change-making’ advocate for child and youth health equity. His work is unique for its scale, sustainability, and impacts, and directly addresses the barriers to accessible care experienced by newcomer, racialized, or historically underserved communities, both in Canada and elsewhere.
A developmental paediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, and associate professor of paediatrics at UofT, Dr. Minhas created Our Kids’ Health, one of Canada’s most impactful social media platforms for disseminating evidence-based, community-led health information to families who need it most. The CPS collaborated with Dr. Minhas and the OKH Network to initiate Immunization for newcomer children and youth, a website providing clinicians, settlement agencies, and public health partners with tools to help newcomer families navigate their fears, recognize misinformation, and overcome systemic barriers to immunization.
Serving on both the CPS Caring for Kids New to Canada Task Force and the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee, Dr. Minhas contributes to national guidance and helps clinicians provide more equitable care in practice for diverse populations. He is a committed mentor and builder of environments where learners feel seen, supported, and empowered to pursue equity-focused careers, and has fostered youth-focused initiatives such as the Digital Health Youth Fellows Program and the Together Against Misinformation Youth Conference. Dr. Manhas’s advocacy bridges clinical care, community partnership, public communication, and policy influence, and his work has measurably improved how child health information is created, shared, and trusted both in Canada and elsewhere.
About Dr. Victor Marchessault
Many will remember Dr. Victor Marchessault as the leader of the CPS, where he served as Executive Vice-President from 1964 to 1997. Still others knew him as an infectious disease scholar and recall his skills and warmth as a clinician. An unwavering advocate for children and youth, his contributions to paediatrics in Canada were far-reaching.
He established the CPS as a political force, with advocacy successes on issues such as vitamin D in milk, fluoride in water, seatbelts for children and safety caps on drug containers. He was also instrumental in the introduction of universal measles vaccination for infants in the late 1960s.
Until his death in 2003, Dr. Marchessault was active in paediatrics, serving as Professor of Paediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and as Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Nominations
The candidate must:
- Be a Canadian resident.
- Have made an outstanding contribution to Canada’s children and youth through advocacy work, such as:
- Encouraging and promoting legislation that protects kids from harm.
- Enhancing safety and making communities more active and child- and youth-friendly.
- Working to make communities more accessible for kids with special needs.
- Promoting and advocating for equality, diversity and inclusivity.
The Awards Committee will judge candidates based on:
- The impact and scope of their advocacy work, specifically in the past 5 years.
- The quality of the information and details in the nomination letters. The letters are a critical component of the evaluation process and should clearly detail how the candidate meets the criteria.
Nominations must be formally resubmitted each year to be reconsidered. Current CPS board, Awards Committee, and Action Committee for Children and Teens (ACCT) members are not eligible for nomination and cannot nominate candidates while serving their terms.
Submissions
Submissions must include:
- Letters from the nominator and seconder (both CPS members) clearly describing the specific contribution made by the nominee in the preceding five years, identifying the impact and scope of the advocacy work. Please note that the committee relies heavily on the nomination letters to make their decision.
- Updated, condensed curriculum vitae (maximum 20 pages)
- Any documents relating to the advocacy work (if appropriate).
Submit your nominations using the Submit Nomination button.
This award is sponsored by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation.
Past recipients
Dr. Natasha Saunders
Dr. Nicholas Chadi
Dr. Christina Grant
Dr. Richard Bélanger
Dr. Mark Tremblay
Dr. Claude Cyr
Dr. Elizabeth Lee Ford-Jones
Dr. Hema Patel
Dr. Natalie Yanchar
Dr. Milton Tenenbein
Ms. Cindy Blackstock
Dr. Gloria Jeliu
Dr. Gilles Fortin & Dr. Jean Labbé
Last updated: May 8, 2026