Awards | Canadian Heritage Rivers System

The Canadian River Heritage Award

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE 2025 CANADIAN RIVER HERITAGE AWARD (formerly the Bill Mason Award)

In the foreground, a red canoe sits along the rocky shoreline of Hairy Lake. Many reeds and bulrushes are visible on the lake.

The Canadian River Heritage Award is offered by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System in partnership with the Canadian Canoe Museum. The award recognizes the invaluable efforts of an individual Canadian to celebrate, protect and conserve river heritage for future generations.

If you know of a river champion who has positively contributed to Canada's river heritage, and has had a profound and lasting influence on communities and their heritage, please submit a nomination.

Nominations can be submitted in English, French, or any Indigenous language spoken in Canada. If necessary, nominations will be translated to support a review by the nominating committee.

Nominations are open until January 19th, 2025.

Guidelines and Procedures

Award Timeline

April: Call for nominations
July: Nomination period closed

History of the award

First presented in 1994 as the Bill Mason National River Conservation Award, The Canadian River Heritage Award honours an individual who has significantly contributed to river heritage in Canada on a scale large enough to be considered as a lifetime achievement.

The CHRS Board is pleased to collaborate with the Canadian Canoe Museum (CCM) to profile this prestigious award in a fitting way and place – by housing it in the Canadian Canoe Museum and working together to promote and honour those nominated for their contributions to Canada’s river heritage.

Record of Award Recipients

Year	Recipient(s)
1994	Mr. Kirk Wipper, Founder of the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association, Toronto
1998	Mr. Bill Reid, Haida Artist and Sculptor, Vancouver
2001	Mr. Pierre Elliot Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, Montreal
2004	Elder William Commanda, Algonquin Nation of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, Maniwaki, Quebec
2007	Mr. Hap Wilson, author, wilderness adventurer and artist, Temagami, Ontario
2009	Mr. Max Finkelstein, paddler, author and river advocate, Ottawa
2013	Mr. Don Gibson, river conservation advocate and long-time National Manager of the CHRS program, Ottawa
2016	Professor Bruce and Carol Hodgins, wilderness canoe leaders, educators and operators of Camp Wahnapitae, Peterborough
2021	Bobbi Rose Koe, advocate for youth, river conservationist, watershed protector, Yukon