Peter ter Weeme Purpose Economy Champion Award
For extraordinary leadership in advancing the purpose economy
We are honoured to announce the creation of the Peter ter Weeme Purpose Economy Champion Award—a distinguished recognition celebrating extraordinary leadership in advancing Canada’s purpose economy.
Named in honour of Peter ter Weeme, a founding member of the Canadian Purpose Economy Project, this award pays tribute to his passion, wisdom and unwavering commitment to building a better, purpose-led economy. Peter has been a guiding light in our work, helping to shape the movement we champion today. Through this award, his legacy will continue to inspire other changemakers.
2025
Winners: the authors of A call to purpose
The Canadian Purpose Economy Project is immensely grateful to the six authors of A Call to Purpose, a courageous and persuasive exhortation to CEOs across the country to embrace a social purpose as the reason their companies exist and to mobilize their corporate assets and resources to fulfill that purpose.
Authored by six of Canada’s most prominent and respected CEOs A Call to Purpose has been endorsed by hundreds of their peers and is supported by many, many more engaged Canadians.
Published in 2022, this letter propelled the movement toward a Purpose Economy.
The Call reflects the bold and ambitious leadership for which the Award was established, and the Project Leadership Group was pleased to present the inaugural Peter ter Weeme Purpose Economy Champion Award at an event in Vancouver on November 19, 2025.
Michael McCain
Executive Chair and former CEO, Maple Leaf Foods
Darren Entwistle
CEO, Telus
Nancy MacKay
CEO, MacKay CEO Forums
Ivan Vella
Former CEO, Rio Tinto
David Redfern
Former CEO, Larfarge Eastern Canada
Rob Wesseling
CEO, Co-operators
About the Award
The Peter ter Weeme Purpose Economy Champion Award is presented to an individual, organization, or collaborative effort that embodies Peter’s lifelong dedication to using business as a force for good. It recognizes bold, visionary contributions to Canada’s purpose economy and the expanding social purpose ecosystem.
About Peter
Through a career spanning four continents, three decades, and the public, private, and civil society sectors, Peter ter Weeme has been a consistent, values-driven leader in social purpose, sustainability, social impact, and human rights.
Peter has been both a successful entrepreneur and executive. As an entrepreneur, he has founded or co-founded three advisory firms, all of which have focused on purpose, sustainability and social impact.
As an executive, Peter has served social purpose businesses and crown corporations with an unwavering determination to use his positions and capacity to ensure each of them stands out today as an exemplar of social purpose business. Whether in sporting goods with Mountain Equipment Coop, banking with Vancity Credit Union, or more recently the gaming sector with British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), Peter has been the quintessential intrapreneur, building and leading high-performance teams that have achieved new heights of business performance, environmental and social impact, and third-party recognition and awards.
Peter was instrumental in the growth of the social purpose movement, serving as BCLC’s first Chief Social Purpose Officer and as a Co-Founder of the Canadian Purpose Economy Project, where he remains active as a member of its Leadership Group. His audacious vision, relentless drive, marketing savvy, and brilliant wit have been central to The Project’s ongoing success.
Alongside his professional commitments, Peter has also supported many non-profit organizations, committing his boundless energy to boards of directors, projects and programs, and community outreach and engagement.
Peter’s generous capacity to recognize and uplift the people around him has made him a supportive, trusted collaborator, a reliable mentor, and a dear friend to the many who have had the opportunity to work for and with him around the world.
This award celebrates his spirit, his influence, and his enduring legacy in the purpose economy he helped build, and in those who carry it forward.
In my career, I’ve had opportunities to work with some incredible leaders. Peter stands tall (literally and figuratively!) among them: his purposeful career, his dedication to his friends and peers, his easy laugh, and his inspiring determination all make Peter a force of nature, a highly valued colleague, and a true friend.
Peter’s career is a masterclass in how business can be a force for good. Whether building purpose-driven companies from the ground up or transforming established organizations, he leads with integrity, vision, and humanity. His fearless conviction that change on a grand scale is possible has emboldened us to believe in a new kind of economy. His influence is felt not only in the organizations he’s shaped, but in the people he’s mentored, inspired, and empowered along the way.
Award Criteria
Prospective recipients will be assessed on their alignment with the 11 Levers of Change that Peter helped define through his leadership in CPEP. They should demonstrate meaningful contributions to at least one of these levers, with a focus on lasting and systemic impact. An Other category is included to open up the possibility of recognizing contributions that advance the purpose economy in ways not captured by the existing categories.
- Boards
- Accountants
- Government
- Investors
- Procurement
- Business Schools
- ESG/CSR Professionals
- Funders
- Equitable Transition
- Associations
- Non-profit Sector
- Other
Additional Criteria
- Alignment of individual/organization with purpose principles
- Size/impact/reach of purpose initiative(s)
- Community/industry recognition of individual/organization social purpose commitment and impact
- Innovative use of social purpose to achieve measurable societal outcomes
- Demonstrable actions to generate community/stakeholder collaboration and engagement on social purpose
- Degree to which they have supported Canada’s movement toward a purpose economy
Selection Process
This is an honorary award. Recipients are selected by members of the Canadian Purpose Economy Project Leadership Group. Applications and nominations are not accepted.