The Arctic Inspiration Prize will give “sustainability prizes” to past winners in early 2027, saying it needs more time to restructure before selecting new laureates.
The prize fund for northern Canadian good causes, which usually distributes more than $3 million annually at a glittering ceremony, gave away less than half that sum this year – and declined to name a winner of its signature million-dollar award.
That came amid reports that at least one board member had abruptly resigned amid internal upheaval.
Now, the organization’s new executive director says things have been changing behind the scenes and the prize will focus on supporting existing winners for the short term.
In a news release late last week, the Arctic Inspiration Prize says this coming year – its 15th – will see $3 million in sustainability prizes awarded to groups who won funding from the organization in the past.
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Prior winners can’t apply for a share of that cash, executive director Jessica Winters said. Instead, the Arctic Inspiration Prize will contact groups one by one.
“We are coming up with a system to contact laureates to see how they’re doing, to see if they’re still active, to see if a sustainability prize would be meaningful to their operations,” Winters told Cabin Radio.
Groups awarded sustainability cash will be announced at the February 2027 Aqsarniit trade show and conference in Ottawa.
Winters said the Arctic Inspiration Prize will also use that conference to announce “regular call-for-nominations deadlines for the upcoming year,” marking a return to normal for the following cycle.
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Rideau Hall Foundation bows out
The internal shift at the Arctic Inspiration Prize has seen the Rideau Hall Foundation depart as manager of the prize fund’s operations.
In the foundation’s place, Winters said a “shift to a fully northern team” is under way.
“That means we can lead by example and we are authentic in our mission,” Winters said. “Hopefully, it means our processes, applications and goals align with northerners and their needs.”
Aside from Winters, the prize has a board and a regional manager for each of the six northern regions of Canada it covers.
“We have slowly but surely developed the capacity within our organization to be able to do it on our own,” said Winters. “We’ve reached that point.”
In a statement earlier this year, the Rideau Hall Foundation said it was “very proud of what we’ve accomplished together with the AIP” since 2015.
The foundation said it had helped build capacity “for the Prize to one day be fully northern led and managed.”
