Join us for the 2026 Allard Law Alumni Achievement Awards

On April 30, 2026, join us for the Allard Law Alumni Achievement Awards. Hosted by the Allard Law Alumni Association, this event honours six remarkable alumni:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: The Honourable Wally Oppal, KC (LLB '66)
• Alumni Award of Distinction: The Honourable Grant Burnyeat, KC (LLB '73) and Shannon Salter, KC (LLB '05)
• Outstanding Young Alum Award: Chris Heslinga (JD '12)
• Community Award: barbara findlay, KC (LLB '76)
• Alumni Award for Research: Professor Janine Benedet, KC (LLB '93)

The evening will bring together our alumni community to celebrate the achievements of our award winners and include a screening of short films celebrating their significant accomplishments. The awards will be followed by a reception where alumni can meet and mingle with the award winners. 

“We're thrilled to be recognizing this impressive and diverse group of alumni,” said Emily MacKinnon, President of the Allard Law Alumni Association. “Each of our recipients this year has made a unique contribution to our legal community. I’m looking forward to raising a glass to each of them.” MacKinnon will be hosting this year’s awards.

Our award winners were nominated by alumni and selected by a sub-committee of the Allard Law Alumni Association Board of Directors. Upon being notified that he is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, the Hon. Wally Oppal, KC, said he was “overwhelmed” by the news. “It is truly the highest honour to be recognized by your peers,” he added. 

Over the past 20 years, our awards ceremonies have seen various interpretations—and they will continue to evolve in the years to come. But the spirit in which the awards are given and the excellence recognized by the awards has not changed. 

The awards first date back to 2004, when the Hon. Frank Iacobucci, CC, KC, LLD, LSM (and an alum of the Class of ’62), retired from the Supreme Court of Canada, and Allard Law’s Alumni Association decided it was time to begin recognizing the many outstanding graduates of our law school. In 2005, the Alumni Association celebrated Justice Iacobucci with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, the categories of Alumni Award of Distinction, Alumni Award for Research and Outstanding Young Alum Award were created, followed by the Community Award in 2020. Looking back at our previous Alumni Achievement Award recipients over the past 20 years provides an impressive snapshot of the inspiring accomplishments of our alumni. 

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, April 30! Learn more and purchase your tickets.