Yesterday, the City of Toronto and Mayor Olivia Chow honoured Dr. Blair Bigham, an emergency and critical care physician, academic, and investigative health journalist, as the 2026 recipient of the Agnes Macphail Award. Dr.Bigham was presented with the award in a special ceremony, recognizing his esteemed career spanning front-line medicine, public policy, and health communication. Across medicine, journalism, and education, Dr. Bigham is recognized for combining rigorous evidence with public advocacy and community-rooted service.
As one of Canada’s first paramedic scientists, Dr. Bigham focused on how health inequalities affect lower-income communities. He also worked as a helicopter paramedic, serving communities with limited access to health care.
After earning a journalism fellowship at the Munk School and completing his intensive-care-unit training at Stanford, Dr. Bigham turned his focus to health communication. As a senior editor with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, Dr. Bigham contributed to major investigations on health system inequities, reporting on femicides and the nurses’ strike at Michael Garron Hospital. Dr. Bigham is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Toronto Metropolitan University, and practises as an intensivist and emergency physician across Toronto, within the Scarborough Health Network, including Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
The Agnes Macphail Award was established in 1994 to recognize individuals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to social justice, equality and community engagement — values championed by Agnes Macphail, the first woman elected to the federal House of Commons. The award is presented annually to an individual in Toronto’s former borough of East York, which Macphail represented, who has made outstanding contributions to the community through volunteerism and advocacy.
More information on the Agnes Macphail Award and a full profile of the 2026 Award recipient is available on the City’s Awards webpage.
Quotes:
“Dr. Blair Bigham is an example of true leadership in the healthcare space. His esteemed career has spanned many different areas of health care and communication, but what has remained consistent is his commitment to community-rooted service. Congratulations on this well-deserved award.”
– Mayor Olivia Chow
“Dr. Blair Bigham has spent his career serving patients and providing care as an emergency physician, exposing inequities in the health-care system to inspire change, and shining a light on gender-based violence that impact women. While his expertise is certainly global, he has chosen to stay local at Sunnybrook Hospital, supporting Toronto’s residents and communities through his meaningful and important work.”
– Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin (Don Valley West)
“The Agnes Macphail Award honours those who go above and beyond to support their communities and Dr. Blair Bigham is a true example of that spirit. His commitment to providing compassionate care to patients and improving science communications to influence systemic change is truly inspiring and will directly impact residents in East York for generations to come.”
– Councillor Brad Bradford (Beaches-East York)
“Dr. Blair Bigham exemplifies what it means to be a community leader. Through his work he has touched the lives of countless residents and committed to improving social inequities in the health-care sector aligned with the spirit of Agnes Macphail. He continues her work of advocacy and community improvement contributing greatly to the East York community. Thank you for all you do, and congratulations.
– Councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth)
“It’s truly an honour to be recognized with the Agnes MacPhail award. To be recognized for a spirit of thinking globally and acting locally not only validates my own efforts to make our city and planet more just through deeply researched reporting, but the efforts of investigative journalists and editors everywhere.”
– Dr. Blair Bigham
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