Killam Program
The Canada Council Killam Prizes recognize and celebrate our most inspiring scholars and thought leaders.
The Canada Council for the Arts awards five Killam Prizes of $100,000 each year (one prize in each of the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering).
Five prizes of
$100,000 are awarded each year
Humanities
Dalhousie University
“The science of the body is moving quickly. Decisions are being made about how our DNA can or should be altered. My current research brings an ethical lens to ongoing debates to help ensure that the decisions we make today will secure a better world for us all tomorrow.”
Engineering
Dalhousie University
“Our work has contributed to the 'electrification of everything.' Lithium-ion batteries are used in phones, computers, tools, lawnmowers, electric vehicles, and grid storage. My students, postdoctoral fellows, and I have contributed to the improvement of Li-ion batteries over the years.”
Social Sciences
York University
“My work explores how race as a social construct mediates the educational and social experiences and achievements of Black and other racialized students, and I support the disaggregation of 'visible minority' data so that their needs and concerns might be effectively addressed – like educational streaming.”
Natural Sciences
University of Toronto
“My work has made intellectual quantum leaps in nanoscience that have surprised, excited, and inspired researchers, industrialists, entrepreneurs, and policy makers around the world. They have applied this knowledge in the field of renewable energy, upon which we now pin great hope for the restoration and sustainability of life on the planet.”
Health Sciences
McMaster University
“Several of our discoveries have led to better understanding the causes, prevention, and treatment of heart disease and strokes, and this has likely benefitted tens of millions of people worldwide.”
We are committed to equity in all our activities, including the administration of our prizes and awards. Read more about how various funding principles, including equity, inform our work.
The Killam Prize introduced my work related to Indigenous legal traditions to a wider audience. Indigenous peoples’ own laws have implications for contemporary communities and Canada more generally. Receiving a Killam widened the circle of interest in my research.
John Borrows (2017 Killam Prize Winner, Social Sciences)
