One of the highlights of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association is the ability to highlight outstanding students, scholars and practitioners in the field. To this end, CIRA has established three honors that it bestows upon individuals or organizations each year. These include the Allen Ponak Best Student Paper Award, the Gérard Dion Award, the Roy J Adams Freedom of Association Award, and the H.D. Woods Lecture.
The Canadian Freedom of Association Award
On June 2, 2016, the Canadian Industrial Relations Association announced the generous donation by Roy J. Adams of funds to support an annual award to a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to promoting understanding of and compliance with international standards regarding the right to organize and bargain collectively as those standards apply to Canada. Consideration for the award shall include but not be limited to efforts or initiatives that establish or expand upon the right of all workers to form and join unions of their own choosing without prior authorization; that expand the guarantees for the free functioning of worker and employer organizations without interference by public authorities; and to respect, to promote and to realize in good faith the rights of workers and employers to collective bargaining in accord with internationally recognized human rights standards and, in particular, those principles and standards developed and promoted by the International Labour Organization.
Allen Ponak Best Student Paper Award
The Allen Ponak Best Student Paper Award is CIRA’s distinction given to the best student paper presented at the annual conference. Graduate students are invited to submit papers that proceed through a blind review process to determine acceptance for presentation at the conference and the winner of the competition. The award is typically accompanied by a $500 prize. The recipient is invited to receive the award at the CIRA banquet held during the annual conference.
Students interested in submitting a paper for this award should check the annual conference website for details. Papers must be sole authored by the student, begin with a cover page containing the title and an abstract of no more than 300 words outlining the purpose of the paper, the methodology used, and main conclusions, be in 12 point font, double-spaced, in APA format and not exceed 10,000 words inclusive of references but excluding abstract and appendices.
Gérard Dion Award
Every year since 1980, CIRA has presented an award to an individual or organization in recognition of their outstanding contribution to our discipline. In 1990 this award was named the Gérard Dion Award in memory of Gérard Dion of the University of Laval who was a founding member of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.
The H.D. Woods Lecture
Since 1984 the Canadian Industrial Relations Association has invited a prominent academic or practitioner in the field to deliver an honorary lecture on a topic of contemporary importance in industrial relations. This honorary lecture is named in honor of Harry Douglas Woods, a professor at McGill University who made significant contributions to the field of industrial relations in Canada, including founded the Industrial Relations Centre at McGill University.