The Rick Hansen Foundation School Program (RHFSP) Difference Maker of the Year Awards celebrate and recognize youth between the ages 5-18 years old that are leaders in making a positive impact for inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities in their school or wider community.
Nominations for the 2025-26 school year will open in January 2026. Individual award recipients will each receive $500 to recognize their work, while classrooms and youth groups will receive $1,000 to share. Learn more about our past recipients and get inspired with unique ways to make a difference in your school or community.
Watch the Difference Maker of the Year Awards video!
Difference Maker Projects and Awards Starter Kit
All the resources educators need to inspire youth Difference Makers in one place! Designed to help you participate in this initiative.
Celebrating the 2025 RHFSP Difference Maker of the Year Awards!
The 2024-25 Difference Maker of the Year Award recipients have been announced!
What is a Difference Maker (Elementary)
Learn what a Difference Maker is and identify Difference Makers in your own life.
Making a Difference (Secondary)
Students consider how they would like to make a difference in their community to create positive change in the lives of people with disabilities.
Nomination Eligibility Criteria
- Youth between ages 5-18 (individuals or groups)
- Have positively impacted accessibility and inclusion in the classroom, school or community benefitting persons with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities (i.e., the activity or project’s main focus may have been improving accessibility for a different type of disability, but must also have benefits for people with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities)
- Addressed a community need of persons with disabilities and involved people with disabilities in the solution
- Majority of project completed between May 1, 2025 – April 5, 2026
- Resident(s) of Canada
- Nominee(s) have consented to being nominated
- Self-nominations must provide a reference from an unrelated adult that has direct knowledge of the individual and the project or activity undertaken
- Must not have received an RHFSP Difference Maker of the Year award in the past 3 years
Key Dates:
Nominations open: January 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time
Nomination deadline: April 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time
Notification to nominators if their nominee has been selected: April 24, 2026
Award recipients announced publicly: During National AccessAbility Week 2026
So I’ve made a nomination, what happens next?
- Once the nomination period closes on April 5, 2026 all nominations will be reviewed to ensure that they meet eligibility criteria
- Eligible nominations will be reviewed by the Difference Maker Award Selection Committee, that will then select 3-6 award recipients
- Recipients will be notified by April 24, 2026
- Recipients will receive a cash prize ($500 for individual projects and $1000 for group/classroom projects), a certificate and a congratulations letter from Rick Hansen, and public recognition from the Rick Hansen Foundation
- All nominees will receive a digital certificate of recognition
More Information
Questions? Try our Frequently Asked Questions or get in touch by emailing schools@rickhansen.com
Meet Award Recipients
Learn about some of our past award recipients, their inspiration, and their impact.
