Twelve Northern-led teams were celebrated today as laureates of the 2025 Arctic Inspiration Prize, receiving over $3.7 million in recognition of their innovative, community-driven projects.
Wally Schumann, chair of the AIP Charitable Trust and a former NWT cabinet minister, stated in a release, “… every year we continue to see the deep and lasting impact these projects have on Northern communities.
”These are not one-off ideas. They are long-term, Northern-led solutions that strengthen language, culture, wellness, and opportunity.”
The awards ceremony took place Tuesday afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa.
Here are some NWT-centred winners:
- Cheko – Youth Empowerment Project received $500,000. Based in Yellowknife, Cheko plans to provide Indigenous youth with land-based learning, mentorship, and entrepreneurship skills to build careers and self-determined futures. The project’s goal is to empower young people with the tools they need to thrive in both their cultural and professional lives.
Uniaraqtuq: A Youth Dog Sledding Club in the Beaufort Delta, received $100,000 on Tuesday in Ottawa at the 2025 Arctic Inspiration Prize awards ceremony. (Image courtesy of AIP livestream)
- Uniaraqtuq: A Youth Dog Sledding Club in the Beaufort Delta, received $100,000. It combines Inuvialuktun and Gwich’in language learning, wellness, and culture through dog sledding. A documentary will follow the club’s journey, providing an opportunity to share the rich cultural history and language of the Inuvialuit and Gwich’in communities with broader audiences.
- Dehcho Youth Energy Action Council – Empowering Future Leaders in Clean Energy, received $100,000. This project trains youth in clean energy leadership by integrating Dene knowledge and technical skills to advance culturally aligned climate solutions.
- Wisdom from the Watershed (the Inuvialuit Settlement Region) received $100,000. This is a documentary project following young Gwich’in hunters in the Peel Watershed to record climate change through intergenerational learning and land-based stories.
This year’s largest overall prize — $1 million — was awarded to Bibia Nàtsät Ku: A Movement to Reclaim Yukon First Nations Midwifery and Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, a groundbreaking initiative to establish a culturally rooted birth and reproductive health centre in Whitehorse.
Dehcho Youth Energy Action Council – Empowering Future Leaders in Clean Energy, received $100,000 at the 2025 Arctic Inspiration Prize. (Image courtesy of AIP)
