The Pearson Peace Medal

The United Nations Association in Canada awards the Pearson Peace Medal to a Canadian who has made an outstanding contribution, either in a professional capacity or through volunteer work, to those causes for which Lester B. Pearson is remembered: aid to the developing world; mediation where conflicts arise; assistance to refugees and populations in need; equal rights and justice for all; peaceful change through international law and multilateralism.

The first recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal was Paul-Émile Cardinal Léger in 1979 who, after many years as Archbishop of Montréal, spent the latter part of his life working as a missionary in the most impoverished regions of Cameroon, particularly in leprosy communities. Other distinguished recipients include E.L.M. (Tommy) Burns, Lois Wilson, Murray Thomson, Flora MacDonald, Ursula Franklin,  Roméo D’Allaire, Ernie Regehr, Donald Ethell, Nigel Fisher, Louise Arbour, Lloyd Axworthy, Wilton Littlechild and Beverley McLachlin.​

A jury of eminent Canadians reviews the nominations and selects the Laureate. The Pearson Peace Medal is often presented by the Governor General of Canada as our Honourary Patron at a private ceremony held around UN Day (October 24) or another significant United Nations Day.