CPAC Professional Achievement Award (PAA)

The CPAC PAA was established in 2009 to recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of immigrant professionals who have attained outstanding success and prominent status in recognized professions. The award also aims to provide role models for other immigrants to emulate. Past PAA recipients include exceptional individuals such as Enhui Yang (scientist), Kelvin Tran (executive) and George Gao (artist).

A Candidate for the award must:

• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Chinese descent who is an immigrant to Canada; and
• be a recognized leader in their profession or in a professional field outside of their occupation (e.g., a celebrated author whose occupation is engineering)

A candidate’s community service and contributions are an influencing factor.

Nominations are encouraged from individuals across all professions and all regions of Canada.

Download the 2026 PAA nomination package here.

CPAC Young Achiever Award (YAA)

The CPAC YAA honours an outstanding young individual, aged 29 or younger, to celebrate their professional accomplishments, community contributions, and/ or business achievements, locally or abroad. The award recognizes the individual’s accomplishments based on their distinction and/or positive social impact.

To be eligible for the award, the nominee must:

• be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada; and
• be 29 years of age or younger as of December 15, 2025

Eligible accomplishments for consideration include but are not limited to:

• Professional or business successes
• Academic or technological discoveries, innovations or contributions
• Social entrepreneurship
• Community and/or social leadership

Please note: The nominee’s main activities/accomplishments must have occurred or been sustained within the two years preceding the nomination deadline.

Download the 2026 YAA nomination package here.

Selection and Presentation

All nominations will be reviewed by the Award Selection Committee composed of professional, academic and community leaders.

Winners of the 2026 awards will be announced by late January 2026.

The awards will be presented at the 2026 CPAC Annual Gala, on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at Hilton Toronto/Markham Suites Conference Centre.