Our 2024 Recap: the Weston Family Foundation’s Year in Review

August 5, 2025 – 2024 marked a year of meaningful progress for the Weston Family Foundation, and we are proud to celebrate the collective achievements made possible through collaboration with our staff, advisors, grantees, and partners across Canada.

Grounded in our mission to champion learning and innovation in support of the well-being of all Canadians, the Foundation continues to serve as a catalyst for change through its focus on healthy aging and healthy ecosystems. In 2024 alone, the Foundation donated more than $66 million across these funding priorities. This impact reflects the dedication and vision of our entire community, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible.

This year, instead of a traditional year-end letter, we’re excited to share our first-ever Year in Review video. It offers a glimpse into the work the foundation supports—bold ideas brought to life through collaboration, all with a focus on lasting impact.

“Our work may appear diverse, but it is all aligned under one vision: the well-being of Canadians, this video highlights just a few examples of the progress made in 2024 and the many incredible organizations and individuals we partnered with along the way.” says Garfield Mitchell Chair, Weston Family Foundation 

As the Foundation continues to evolve its funding strategy, these moments serve not just as milestones, but as powerful reminders of the impact of purpose-driven work—and of the Canadians who make it possible.

Watch the 2024 Year in Review video:

Dévoilement des lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique

Faire progresser les connaissances pour contribuer à la protection et à la restauration de la biodiversité boréale

TORONTO, ON – Le 17 juillet 2025, Nous avons l’honneur de dévoiler les lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025. Créé il y a 18 ans, le programme continue de soutenir les chercheurs en début de carrière dont les travaux permettent de mieux comprendre le Nord canadien et de préserver sa biodiversité unique. À l’issue d’un examen indépendant de plus de 90 candidatures provenant de partout au pays, 30 chercheurs ont été sélectionnés pour recevoir un financement:

  • 15 étudiants à la maîtrise (20 000 $ sur un an)
  • 11 étudiants au doctorat (120 000 $ sur trois ans)
  • 4 étudiants au postdoctorat (110 000 dollars sur deux ans et un montant annuel allant jusqu’à 10 000 $ pour couvrir les frais de déplacement et de participation à des conférences)

Depuis 2007, la Fondation de la famille Weston a soutenu plus de 400 chercheurs dans le cadre de ce programme, dont les bourses figurent parmi les plus importantes et les plus prestigieuses dans le secteur des sciences naturelles nordiques au Canada.

La cohorte de 2025 mènera des recherches innovantes dans des domaines allant de la glaciologie et de l’océanographie à l’écologie des espèces et aux changements climatiques. Voici quelques-uns des projets qui obtiendront du financement:

  • Explorer les réactions des espèces marines de l’Arctique aux variations de la glace de mer
  • Étudier la régénération des forêts boréales après un incendie et les implications sur les écosystèmes de la forêt.
  • Travailler en collaboration avec les communautés autochtones pour tresser les savoirs autochtones avec la science.
  • Pleins des autres projects!

Dans le cadre du programme, les lauréats des bourses pour la recherche nordique sont encouragés à travailler en partenariat avec les communautés nordiques et autochtones – une approche qui se reflète dans la conception et la mise en œuvre de nombreux projets choisis pour 2025.

Nous remercions sincèrement les évaluateurs, les établissements de recherche et les collectivités qui continuent à soutenir et à guider ces chercheurs.

Faites la connaissance des lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025 et apprenez-en plus sur leurs projets de recherche ici.

Announcing the 2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars 

Advancing knowledge to help protect and restore northern biodiversity

TORONTO, ON – July 17, 2025, We are honoured to share the recipients of the 2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research. Now in its 18th year, this program continues to support early-career researchers whose work deepens our understanding of Northern Canada and safeguards its unique biodiversity. 

Following a competitive, arms-length review of over 90 applications from across the country, 30 scholars have been selected to receive funding: 

  • 15 Master’s students ($20,000 over one year) 
  • 11 PhD students ($120,000 over three years) 
  • 4 Postdoctoral Fellows ($110,000 over two years, with up to $10,000/year for travel and conference expenses) 

Since 2007, the Weston Family Foundation has supported more than 400 researchers through this program—one of the most substantial and prestigious awards for northern natural sciences in Canada. 

The 2025 cohort will lead innovative research in fields ranging from glaciology and oceanography to species ecology and climate change. Funded projects include:

  • Exploring Arctic marine species’ responses to shifting sea ice patterns. 
  • Studying post-fire recovery of boreal forests and implications for forest ecosystems.
  • Working with Indigenous communities and braiding Indigenous Knowledge with science.
  • And more!

As part of the program, Northern Scholars are encouraged to work in partnership with northern and Indigenous communities—an approach reflected in the design and implementation of many 2025 projects. 

We extend our sincere thanks to the reviewers, research institutions, and communities that continue to support and guide these scholars. 

Meet the 2025 Weston Family Northern Scholars and learn more about their research here.

Sarah Cook

Sarah Cook joined the Weston Family Foundation in January 2022 as a Grants Coordinator. She is responsible for supporting the operational needs of programs related to the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative and Northern Science and Knowledge.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Sarah worked on the Operations and Finance teams for a number of Canadian and international non-profit organizations including the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Development Studies and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Development Management.

2025 Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative

Program Overview

Letter of Intent Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025

Recognizing the critical role of Canada’s Prairie Grasslands in supporting the ecological, social, economic and cultural well-being of people across the country, the Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative will protect the biodiversity of one of Canada’s most ecologically valuable and threatened ecosystems. This initiative is centered on securing the long-term protection of biodiversity in Canada’s Prairie grasslands through (i) stewardship, (ii) economic viability and (iii) training.

The 2025 Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative is a five-year, $30M open call funding opportunity that aims to protect grasslands biodiversity by promoting the use and adoption of best stewardship practices, addressing the economic drivers affecting land conversion, and delivering practical and impactful knowledge, tools and resources to support grass-based stewards. This Initiative builds upon the first phase of the program originally launched in 2020, by applying learnings and new perspectives gained in the first five years to improve and protect biodiversity within this ecologically and culturally significant landscape.

Program Details:

Successful projects will use one or more of the following conservation approaches:  

  • Stewardship: Promote the increased use and adoption of best stewardship practices to protect the biodiversity and ecological function of grasslands. 
  • Economic Viability: Address the economic drivers affecting land use change to reduce conversion and protect the ecological integrity of grass-based systems. 
  • Training: Deliver evidence-based knowledge, tools and resources to support ecologically based land management.

Geographic Scope

Projects must be implemented in grassland dominated habitats within the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and/or Manitoba. Projects operating outside this region will not be considered for funding at this time.  

Image credit: The Manitoba Museum 

Targeted Outcomes and Impacts 

  • Projects must deliver practical and measurable outputs (quantitative and qualitative) that have meaningful and long-lasting impact on biodiversity.
  • Impact should clearly contribute towards enhancing and protecting biodiversity in the region designated as Prairie Grasslands.
  • Project outcomes must align with the identified program principles and conservation approaches as outlined in the Program Details.

Important dates:

  • Program information (webinar) sessions:
    • February 25, 2025, 1-2pm ET
    • March 13, 2025, 1-2pm ET
  • Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline: April 1, 2025, at 3pm ET
  • Proposal deadline (select applicants only): June 26, 2025, at 3pm ET (Tentative, date subject to change)
  • Award decisions: Fall 2025

For more information about this program, including details on project and applicant eligibility, review criteria and targeted project outcomes, please see the relevant documents below.

Prospective applicants are welcome to contact the Foundation with any program-related inquiries including questions about the eligibility criteria or strategic fit of your project. Please direct any questions to the Conservation Team at conservation@westonfoundation.ca

Relevant documents:

Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative Webinar: February 25, 2025

2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research | Bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025

Program Overview

Deadline: January 16, 2025

Since 2007, the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research have provided unparalleled support to early career scientists in Canada pursuing research in Canada’s North. These annual awards are some of the most prestigious in the country for students pursuing a master’s degree, a doctoral degree or postdoctoral fellowship. Over 350 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have been selected to receive an award since the program’s inception, forming a community of Weston Family Northern Scientists who are at the forefront of northern scholarship and who are helping shape a better future for Canada and the world.

Weston Family Awards in Northern Research winners undertake projects across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines in the natural sciences, including studies of northern ecosystems, biodiversity, flora and fauna, meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, geography and environmental studies.

In the 2025 program year, the Weston Family Foundation will aim to support the following awards:

  • Up to 15 awards for master’s level students. Each award is valued at $20,000 over one year.
  • Up to 10 awards for doctoral students. Each award is valued at $40,000 each year for three years.
  • Up to 5 awards for postdoctoral fellows. Each award is valued at $55,000 each year for two years plus up to $10,000 per year for travel and conference expenses.

Master’s and Doctoral students are also welcome to apply for the program’s Extended Stay Program. The Extended Stay Program supports students with projects that take them into communities to engage and share the results and impact of their research.” Learn more about the Extended Stay Program here.

Important dates:

Information Webinar: November 28, 2024 1 – 2 p.m. ET

Application deadline: January 16, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET

Award announcement: May 2025

For further information about this exciting new program, including project details, applicant eligibility, and scientific or geographic scope, please review the documents below.

Please do not hesitate to contact Universities Canada, which administers the program, with any inquiries related to the program. You are welcome to send questions to Daphne Wellman, Program Specialist with Scholarship Partners Canada, at westonawards@univcan.ca.

Relevant English documents:

Photo credit: Esther Frei

L’Aperçu du programme 

Date limite : 16 janvier 2025

Depuis 2007, les bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique apportent un soutien inégalé aux scientifiques en début de carrière qui poursuivent des recherches dans le Nord canadien. Ces bourses annuelles figurent parmi les plus prestigieuses au pays pour les étudiants qui font une maîtrise ou un doctorat ou souhaitent obtenir une bourse postdoctorale. Depuis sa création, le programme a fait plus de 350 lauréats parmi les étudiants diplômés et les boursiers postdoctoraux. Ces scientifiques du Nord forment une communauté à l’avant-garde de la recherche nordique et contribuent à façonner un avenir meilleur pour le Canada et le monde.

Les lauréats des prix de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique entreprennent des projets dans un large éventail de domaines et de disciplines touchant les sciences naturelles, dont l’étude des écosystèmes nordiques, la biodiversité, la flore et la faune, la météorologie, l’océanographie, la glaciologie, la géographie et l’environnement.

Au cours de l’année 2025, la Fondation de la famille Weston financera les bourses suivantes :

  • Jusqu’à quinze bourses de maîtrise. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 20 000 $ sur un an.
  • Jusqu’à dix bourses doctorales. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 40 000 $ par année pour trois ans.
  • Jusqu’à cinq bourses postdoctorales. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 55 000 $ par année pour deux ans, plus un montant annuel allant jusqu’à 10 000 $ pour couvrir les frais de déplacement et de participation à des conférences.

Les étudiants à la maîtrise et au doctorat peuvent aussi faire une demande au titre du programme de séjour prolongé. Chaque année, ce programme soutient des étudiants dans le cadre de projets qui les amènent à se rendre dans des collectivités afin de partager les résultats et les retombées de leurs recherches. Pour en savoir plus sur le programme de séjour prolongé, cliquez ici.

Dates importantes :

Webinaire d’information : 28 novembre 2024, de 13 h à 14 h (HE)

Date limite pour le dépôt des candidatures : 16 janvier 2025, 17 h (HE)

Annonce des lauréats : Mai 2025

Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements sur ce nouveau programme passionnant, y compris de l’information sur les projets, les critères d’admissibilité des candidats et la portée scientifique ou géographique, veuillez consulter les documents ci-dessous.

N’hésitez pas à communiquer avec Universités Canada, qui administre le programme, pour toute question relative au programme. Vous pouvez envoyer vos questions à Daphne Wellman, spécialiste des programmes, Partenaires en bourses d’études Canada, à l’adresse westonawards@univcan.ca.

Documents pertinents en français:

Crédit photo: Esther Frei

Northern Conservation Program

Program Overview

Letter of Intent Submission Deadline: November 26, 2024, 3:00pm ET

The Weston Family Foundation is open to new and innovative ways to significantly advance conservation and stewardship in northern Canada.

The Northern Conservation Program aims to support projects that will deliver tangible, realistic results for biodiversity conservation, and demonstrate how ongoing stewardship of conserved lands will be accomplished. The Foundation recognizes that Indigenous communities are critical planners and stewards of northern ecosystems, and as such we welcome and encourage projects that are Indigenous-led or Indigenous-partnered. 

The outcomes of the Northern Conservation Program are:

  • Protect/Conserve: An increase in conserved northern land and ocean areas that are of high value for biodiversity or for resisting or adapting to climate change
  • Manage/Steward: An increase in northern land and ocean areas that are governed and stewarded with ecologically and culturally sustainable policies and practices that support nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity.

Successful projects will focus on:

  • the establishment of land and ocean protected and conserved areas
  • stewardship measures that maintain conservation of northern biodiversity in protected or conserved areas.

Projects must demonstrate that they take place in one or both of the “Areas of High Value for Biodiversity,” being:

  • areas of significantly high value for northern biodiversity; or
  • areas that are of high value for resisting or mitigating the impacts of climate change and/or providing options for wildlife and ecosystems to adapt to climate change.

Please refer to the Program Details for more information.

Funding available per project: a minimum of $450,000 to a maximum of $1,500,000 CAD per project. We are aiming for average grant sizes of $750,000.

Important dates:

Information Webinars:

  • October 16 at 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. ET
  • October 23 at 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. ET

Letter of Intent deadline:  November 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

Proposal deadline: February 18, 2025 3:00 p.m. ET (estimated)

Award announcement: Spring 2025

For more information about this new program, including project details, applicant eligibility, and scientific or geographic scope, please review the documents below.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any inquiries related to the program. You are welcome to send questions to the Northern inbox, northern@westonfoundation.ca.

Relevant documents:

Watch the Northern Conservation Program webinar here:

Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Extended Stay Program

About

The Extended Stay Program (“ESP”) provides funding to Master’s and PhD students to support relationship building in the northern communities where the students’ research projects are taking place. The purpose of the ESP program is to foster connections between researchers and northern communities and encourage data and results sharing with the communities. Interested students must submit their ESP application at the same time as their application for the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research.

Program FAQ

What is the Extended Stay Program?

The Extended Stay Program (ESP) provides funding to support outreach and relationship-building activities in Northern communities. 

Who can apply?

The funding is only available to recipients of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research at the master’s and doctoral levels.

When is the application deadline?

An application for Extended Stay funding must be submitted at the same time as the application to the award competition.

What is the amount of funding available?

The maximum amount of funding per project is $8,000.  Funding will not be provided for projects with activities that have already been carried out (i.e. the funding cannot be used retroactively).

By when must a project be completed?

Extended Stay projects must be completed before the end of the award recipient’s award tenure.

Following completion of the project, recipients must submit a report along with their expense claim.

What costs are eligible for reimbursement?

  • Event costs (e.g. room and/or AV rental, food and beverages for the event, translation services)
  • Travel costs to the northern community (e.g., airfare, accommodations, per diems)

Project highlights

See what other students have done for their Extended Stay Program projects!

Geneviève Degré-Timmons, MSc, 2021

“I led a community outreach activity at the Water Stewardship Gathering at First River (Kakisa, NT). This on-the-land camp was organized by Ecology North in partnership with the Wilfrid Laurier University and Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation (August 13 -17, 2021).

My activity offered a unique opportunity to engage with youth by bringing them out on the land to learn first-hand about field sampling methods and understand how wildfire impacts caribou habitat. We conducted a vegetation survey in a 2014 burn site.”

Lauren Thompson, PhD, 2020

“I view outreach and engagement with Northern communities in proximity to field science as essential. Opportunities for engagement benefit both researchers and community members as it opens a dialogue on local interests and priorities, and researchers can thus shift their approach to accommodate this. It also allows the communication of scientific results directly to community members to ensure that people on the frontlines of climate change can be informed on how permafrost thaw may impact water quality rather than filing the results in relatively inaccessible scientific reports and journals.

My Extended Stay activities involved community meetings to present ongoing research results and discuss further work with elders; land-based discussions of research activities on the culturally important Hay Zama Lakes; water sampling alongside Dene Tha’ technicians in the Hay River watershed; and experiential learning with Dene Tha’ elders, community technicians, and knowledge holders during an overnight boating trip on the culturally important Hay River to discuss ongoing research, demonstrate water sampling techniques, and to visit important locations for collecting medicines, fishing, and hunting.”

Mathild Poirier, PhD, 2020

“From May 4 to 9, I had the chance to stay in the community of Pond Inlet in Nunavut to carry out two awareness activities. The first part of my stay aimed to hold two workshops in Nasivvik secondary school with young people aged between 13 and 15. The first workshop took place on 5 May in the morning with 9 of the students and consisted of a short field trip to sample the physical properties of snow. The students present dug a well in the snow and tested various devices used to obtain snow measurements, such as density, hardness and temperature.

During of the second workshop on May 6 in the afternoon, I was accompanied by my colleague Flore Sergeant and we led a workshop in the form of discussions with a group of around 20 students as well as 2 elders from the community, Jayko Alooloo and Moses Koonark. During this workshop, we discussed the water cycle, permafrost, snow cover and the links between snow and living beings (animals and humans). I was able to share my scientific knowledge on these subjects, while the elders shared their knowledge with us based on their traditional knowledge. It was a very enriching for all the groups who were present during this workshop.”

Announcing the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars

Continuing 17 years of funding to scholars committed to science research in the North

TORONTO, ON – July 29, 2024, Today, we have the honour of sharing the winners of the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research. After receiving over 80 applications from across the country, a total of 28 were selected following a rigorous arms-length review process – 15 Master’s Students, 11 PhD students and 2 Postdoctoral Fellows. All will receive funding to study biodiversity, among other priorities, across northern Canada. This year, each academic level received the highest amount we’ve ever offered, meaning:

  • Master’s students received awards valued at $20,000 over one year
  • Doctoral students received awards valued at $120,000 over three years
  • Postdoctoral fellows received awards valued at $110,000 over two years, with up to $10,000 per year for travel and conference expenses

Since launching in 2007, the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research have supported 350+ early career northern scientists focusing on research in natural sciences. Of the 28 projects funded this year, studies include:

  • Exploration of how continual permafrost thaw and rapid but extensive fires affect the storage and flux of water within boreal peatland
  • Identifying and comparing marine movement patterns and spawning locations of Arctic char
  • Studying the drivers and management of cyanobacteria blooms, including addressing knowledge gaps that exist between climate change and bloom formation across lake trophic scale and latitudes
  • Understanding the tundra’s vulnerability to climate-exacerbated changes in fire regimes and refining estimates of tundra carbon recycling

As part of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research, Northern Scholars were encouraged to co-design their research with northern communities. This can be seen in the number of students who are working directly with Indigenous communities and working to braid Indigenous knowledge with academic scientific methodology.

To learn more about the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars and their projects, click here.

David Bysouth, PhD

David Bysouth (he/him) joined the Weston Family Foundation in December 2023. He is responsible for managing the programming related to Northern Science and Knowledge.

Prior to joining the foundation, David worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, where, as a soil and ecosystem science researcher, he collaborated with communities in the Northwest Territories to understand the environmental impact of converting boreal forest to agriculture as a means of improving food security. He has also spent time understanding historical environmental conditions of peatlands in the Hudson Bay Lowlands region of Northern Ontario.

David has a PhD in Integrative Biology from the University of Guelph, a MSc in Earth Science from the University of Toronto, and a BSc in Life Sciences from McMaster University.