The Empire Club of Canada
The Nation Builder Award is the Empire Club of Canada’s signature recognition of the people who are building our country. Each year it honours a distinguished leader, organization, or group whose vision and work have made an outstanding and lasting contribution to Canada. Past recipients are the Toronto Blue Jays, Prem Watsa, Wes Hall, Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, Chief Perry Bellegarde, Canada’s frontline health workers, and Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors.
The Empire Club of Canada is proud to recognize Stephen J.R. Smith as the 2026 Nation Builder Award recipient.
Through First National Financial, which he co-founded in 1988, Smith built a lender that grew to more than $90 billion in mortgages under administration, opening the door to homeownership for hundreds of thousands of families — and with it, a foothold of stability and belonging in this country.
He has invested more than $150 million in Canadian higher education, including the largest single donation ever made to a Canadian engineering school, shaping how the country educates its future business leaders and engineers.
He has championed the preservation of Canada’s national story through his stewardship of Historica Canada, and through his stake in The Economist Group has worked to ensure Canada’s voice carries weight in the global conversation.
The 2026 Nation Builder Award will be presented at a luncheon ceremony on Tuesday, January 19, 2027, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, in Toronto. The program will include testimonials from Duncan Jackman and Gareth Seltzer, among others, followed by the presentation of the award, remarks from Smith, and a fireside chat with Amanda Lang, Chief Financial Correspondent, CTV News, and host of Taking Stock. The event will also be livestreamed.
The Nation Builder Award recognizes Canadians and Canadian institutions whose vision, values and determination help define what the country stands for at home and abroad. In honouring Stephen J.R. Smith, the Club recognizes a career spent opening doors for Canadians: to a first home, a world-class education and a deeper understanding of our national story.
To attend the 2026 Nation Builder Award Ceremony, visit the event page here.
To learn about sponsorship opportunities, or partnership activations connected to the 2026 Nation Builder Award, please contact jehan.mamdani@empireclub.org
2025 recipients: Toronto Blue Jays – Canada’s Major League Baseball team
2024 recipient: Prem Watsa – Founder, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings
2023 recipient: Wes Hall ICD.D. Dragon, Dragons Den, Founder, BlackNorth Initiative
2022 recipient: Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, Resident Physician, Assistant General Manager, Toronto Maple Leafs, Canadian former ice hockey player
2021 recipient: Chief Perry Bellegarde, First Nations Leader and Human Rights Advocate
2020 recipient: Frontline Workers
2019 recipients: the Toronto Raptors
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