Since 2016, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences has had the privilege of being a nominating partner for the Governor General’s Innovation Awards. Led by the Office of the Governor General and the Rideau Hall Foundation, this national award program celebrates excellence in innovation across all sectors of Canadian society and inspires Canadians, particularly Canadian youth, to be entrepreneurial innovators. Through our participation in the GGIAs, the Federation helps showcase our humanities and social sciences community as an important source of innovation.
Read about our winning nominees!
2019
The SmartICE team, represented by Trevor Bell, Shelly Elverum, Jenny Mosesie, Shawna Dicker, SmartICE - making ice travel safe
2017
Dr. Marie-Odile Junker, Taking steps to preserve endangered Aboriginal languages in Canada
Nominations 2022
The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences has been invited to nominate outstanding candidates from our community for the 2022 Governor General’s Innovation Awards, and we welcome your recommendations.
When considering whom we might nominate as an innovator, it’s important to note that there are some differences between innovation and research excellence. For these awards, innovation is understood as addressing a pressing problem with a solution that is based on new thinking, and putting that solution into action. The awards are not intended for lifetime achievement or innovations that have not yet demonstrated impact. For more information, please see the description.
The Federation is committed to furthering equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization within the social sciences and humanities in Canada, and encourages you to recommend candidates from underrepresented groups, including women, visible minorities/racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and individuals from the LGBTQ2S+ community.
To recommend an individual candidate or team, please complete the application form by September 17, 2021. The form will ask you about the following:
- Summary. A short description of the nature, significance and impact of the innovation or innovative activities.
- Inspiration. How does the process leading to this innovation, its implementation and its developer(s) inspire future innovators in Canada?
- Leadership. How did the innovator(s) demonstrate leadership in their work? Discuss evidence of initiative, collaboration, risk-taking and problem-solving in the process of developing and implementing the innovation.
- Impact. Is the innovation in question having a positive effect in the world? Describe the successful implementation of the innovation in the sector, economy, society or culture, and the role of the nominee(s) in that implementation. Please include evidence and indicators of impact, and if possible, please quantify the impact.
For more information on the Federation’s GGIAs nomination process, email contact@federationhss.ca.