Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: October 5, 2006
• Invested on: October 26, 2007

Louis Fortier has helped place Canada at the forefront of research on the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. A professor at Université Laval, he is a tireless promoter of international multidisciplinary cooperation. He has created and managed mega research programs in marine science, such as the International North Water Polynya Study (NOW) and the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES). He is also responsible for the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker refitted as a state-of-the-art research platform. As well, ArcticNet, the first network of centres of excellence focused on the Arctic was created under his leadership. The network, of which he is the scientific director, studies the impact of climate change in the Canadian Arctic.