The Canadian journalism industry’s 2026 awards season is continuing apace, and The Narwhal picked up several additional accolades last week, right on the heels of our strong showing at the Digital Publishing Awards and National Magazine Awards.

For the second time this month, Narwhal freelancers Chloe Williams and Gavin John have been awarded with a top Canadian climate journalism prize. Judges from the Canadian Journalism Foundation announced Willams and John as winners of the foundation’s climate solutions reporting prize at a ceremony in Toronto on June 10.

Williams and John were recognized for their story on disappearing sea ice in Cambridge Bay, Nvt. The two journalists spent five days there last year to document the social and cultural impacts of receding sea ice, as well as a potential solution that could preserve the community’s sea ice traditions for another generation. 

Nicole MacAdam, a juror for the prize, called the story “a fully realized account of what it means to be an Inuit community living inside a climate crisis, engaging with an imperfect intervention on its own terms.”

Williams and John also won the climate change reporting prize at the Digital Publishing Awards for the same story.

It’s not the first time The Narwhal has won the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s climate solutions reporting prize: we last snagged the award in 2023, for our work documenting the rise of Indigenous-led conservation in Canada.

Narwhal reporters Savannah Ridley and Matt Simmons each win silver at Canadian Association of Journalists awards

Days later, the Canadian Association of Journalists awarded two journalists from The Narwhal with silver prizes at its annual awards ceremony in Ottawa on June 13.

Savannah Ridley won silver in the emerging Indigenous journalist category for a body of work she produced in 2025.

Savannah joined The Narwhal as our first-ever Indigenous editorial fellow and quickly distinguished herself with her enthusiasm and commitment. She’s “an immensely talented young journalist who brings insight and empathy to her work,” bureau chief Michelle Cyca says.

Savannah covered the AI data centre boom and the drinking water crisis in First Nations, among other topics, during her time at The Narwhal. She is now a staff reporter at the Toronto Star.

Matt Simmons, The Narwhal’s northwest B.C. reporter, also won a silver from the Canadian Association of Journalists. His award came in the labour journalism category for a story he wrote about sexual violence in the tree-planting industry.

Matt spoke with sexual assault survivors, educators and industry representatives for his story, which painted a nuanced picture of the issue, focusing on systemic problems instead of individual perpetrators.

Executive editor Denise Balkissoon called Matt’s story “a thoughtful narrative on an important topic, written with care by a reporter willing to explore a sensitive subject he had never tackled before.”

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