Certificates of Merit

Nominations Submissions Submit your nomination

Certificates of Merit allow the CPS to recognize members who have made exceptional contributions to the health of children and youth at a regional level. They are presented at provincial or regional paediatric society meetings or at other regional events where the recipient will be in attendance.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Krista Baerg, Saskatchewan

Dr. Krista Baerg is a consultant paediatrician at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon and a professor of paediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan. Through leadership and advocacy for children and adolescents living with chronic pain, Dr. Berg has made exceptional, sustained contributions to child and youth health in Saskatchewan. She has served as medical lead of the Interdisciplinary Pediatric Complex Pain Clinic since its establishment in 2009 and played a critical role in improving access to specialized, evidence‑based care for children and adolescents with complex chronic pain, province wide. She is also an exceptional advocate for Baby-Friendly and team‑based care and has developed education modules to support both initiatives.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Scott McLeod, Alberta

Dr. Scott McLeod is a developmental paediatrician practicing at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary and a clinical associate professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, where he has been on staff since 2017.

His clinical work focuses on children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, with particular expertise in cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual developmental disorders, and attention and behavioural conditions.

Dr. McLeod is recognized for his thoughtful, systems-focused advocacy for children and families. He has led initiatives that translate evidence into meaningful clinical change, including the integration of early detection tools for cerebral palsy into routine care, enabling earlier diagnosis and intervention. He also co-developed The Bridge, a family-centred program that connects families to counselling, education, and community supports at the time of diagnosis, and helps reduce isolation and improve early outcomes.

Current recipient(s): Dr. June Ortenberg, Quebec

Dr. June Ortenberg is an assistant professor of paediatrics at McGill University and a paediatrician at Montreal Children’s Hospital. A pioneer in paediatric chronic and complex care, Dr. Ortenberg founded and leads provincial centres for neurofibromatosis and spina bifida in Montreal, creating innovative multidisciplinary clinics that have become the standard of care. These programs have transformed how children with complex medical and developmental needs are supported by providing coordinated, lifelong, family‑centred care from infancy through transition to adulthood.

As a founding leader and ongoing medical advisor to the Neurofibromatosis Association of Quebec, Dr. Ortenberg has been a powerful regional advocate for children and families, and strengthened support systems, education, and policy-informed program structures. Her advocacy also addresses social determinants of health through volunteer work with schools, food security organizations, women’s shelters, and community rehabilitation programs.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Meta van den Heuvel, Ontario

Dr. Meta van den Heuvel is a staff paediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and an associate professor of paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Her clinical work centres on early child growth and feeding at SickKids’ Infant and Toddler Growth and Feeding Clinic. She also provides care for children with developmental and behavioural concerns from an underserved area of Toronto.

Dr. van den Heuvel’s research and advocacy work focuses on the social determinants of health, with particular attention to food insecurity and its impact on child development. She has led studies examining household effects of food insecurity and helped develop hospital-based interventions, such as the Medical-Financial-Partnership working group and the Financial Navigator Pilot Program. She is also principal investigator of a PSI Foundation-funded multi-centre study on health care inequities in paediatric hospital care across Ontario.

Nominations

Nominees should be CPS members who have made exceptional contributions at the regional level. Both the nominator and candidate must reside in the same region.

The Membership Subcommittee, in collaboration with the board member(s) for the region, will judge candidates based on their commitment to advocating for children and youth in their community through any of the following:

Encouraging local or regional legislation that promotes child/youth health;
Making their community more active, safe, and child- and youth-friendly;
Working to make communities more accessible for kids with special needs;
Working to make child/youth health programs more accessible for hard-to-reach communities;
Being a role model for paediatricians-in-training as well as those in academic or community practice.

Nominations will be held for two consecutive years but must be formally resubmitted following the two year period to be reconsidered. Current voting members of the CPS Board of Directors and Membership Subcommittee members are not eligible. There will be a maximum of one award per region per year.

The regions are:

British Columbia and Yukon
Alberta and Northwest Territories
Saskatchewan
Manitoba and Nunavut
Ontario
Quebec
New Brunswick and PEI
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador

Submissions

Submissions must include:

A letter from the nominator outlining how the nominee meets the above criteria.
A current curriculum vitae for the candidate.

Submit your nominations using the Submit Nomination button.

Atlantic Provinces
2025 Cecil Ojah, MD
2023 Arati Mokashi, MD
2022 John Leblanc, MD
2020 Suryakant Shah, MD
2019 Jill Barter, MD
2018 Tracey Bridger, MD
2017 Minoli Amit, MD
2015 Padmavathy Guntamukkala, MD
2011 Mammen Cheriyan, MD
2010 Jonathan Kronick, MD
2009 Scott Halperin, MD
2008 Rick Cooper, MD
2007 Albert Davis, MD
2005 Chaker Hobeika, MD
Manitoba
2019 Elissa Abrams, MD
2012 Regina Rempel, MD
2011 Aaron Chiu, MD
2009 Heather Dean, MD
2008 Diane Moddemann, MD
Ontario
2025 Michael Hill, MD
2023 Ryan Smith, MD
2021 Melanie Colpitts, MD
2017 Peter Wong, MD
2016 Sarah Barker, MD
2015 Rosemary Moodie, MD
2014 W. James King, MD
2013 Michelle Gordon, MD
2011 Alan Hudak, MD
2010 Elizabeth Ford-Jones, MD
2009 Shobha Wahi, MD
2008 William Gary Smith, MD
Quebec
2023 Louise Auger, MD
2022 Danielle Taddeo, MD
2021 François Boucher, MD
2020 Sylvie Béliveau, MD
2019 Julie St-Pierre, MD
2017 Anne-Claude Bernard-Bonnin, MD
2016 Nancy Haley, MD
2014 Diane Munz, MD
2013 Claire Allard-Dansereau
2012 Jean Dorval, MD
2011 Jean Labbé, MD
2010 Emmett Francoeur, MD
2009 Pierre Déry, MD
2008 Gilles Julien, MD
2007 Jean Jacques Turcotte, MD
2005 Alice Chan-Yip, MD
Alberta
2020 Charlotte Foulston, MD
2019 Janice Heard, MD
2019 Carey Molberg, MD
2015 Heidemarie Schroter, MD
2011 Thiru Govender, MD
2010 Albert Akierman, MD
2008 Cecilia Baxter, MD
2007 Mark Montgomery, MD
New Brunswick
2017 Ramaiyer Krishnaswamy, MD
2015 Susan Sanderson, MD
2013 Anne and Roderick Canning, MD
2012 Jeanne Duncan, MD
2011 Stephen Siauw, MD
2009 David Yule, MD
2008 Mahmoud Loubani, MD
2007 Barbara Bulleid, MD
British Columbia
2021 Sylvia Chang, MD
2011 Alphonso Solimano, MD
2010 Tom Warshawski, MD
2009 Christine Loock, MD
2008 Basil Boulton, MD
2005 Henry Ukpeh, MD
Saskatchewan
2021 Chiranjib Talukdar, MD
2017 Ben Tan, MD
2015 Garth Bruce, MD
2011 Alan Rosenberg, MD
2010 Tilak Malhotra, MD
2008 William Bingham, MD

Last updated: May 15, 2026

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