Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security awards four scholarships

We’re excited to share the four recipients of the 2026/27 Maple Leaf Board Scholarships in Food Insecurity. 

These scholarships honor the extraordinary contributions of David Emerson, Wallace McCain, Purdy Crawford, and W. Geoffrey Beattie as past Chairs of the Maple Leaf Foods Board of Directors. Each year, the Centre awards four scholarships to Masters or Doctoral students who are pursuing research that contributes to the body of knowledge on food insecurity in Canada. Candidates are selected based on their academic standing, contribution to filling research gaps, and quality of the submission, including feasibility and methodological rigor. 

Doctoral candidates Alexandra Doran from Simon Fraser University, Firoozeh Bairami Hekmati from Dalhousie University, Diego Bitencourt Minas from Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, and Sian Borden from Queen’s University will each receive a $15,000 scholarship to support their research:

• Alexandra Doran will explore how food and housing insecurity overlap for single mothers in Canada, using data and lived experience to better understand the problem and identify solutions. 

• Firoozeh Bairami Hekmati will examine how Canada’s Old Age Security programs affect the food security and well-being of low-income older adults in Atlantic Canada. 

• Diego Bitencourt Minas will investigate how the urban food environment affects Indigenous people in Maniwaki and Gatineau, and how communities and local organizations are working to protect traditional food practices and support food security. 

• Sian Borden will work with African Nova Scotian communities to better understand local food systems and support community-led ideas for stronger food security and food sovereignty. 

The Centre is proud to support research that contributes to our understanding of barriers and interventions to achieve food security. Since the scholarship was introduced in 2020, 25 students have received research scholarships. For more information about the scholarship process, visit the Scholarships page.