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Robyn Ostrander Receives the 2026 Gilles Demers Award for Excellence in Animal Care
The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) is pleased to recognize Ms. Robyn Ostrander, Animal Care Technician at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Centre for Food-Borne and Animal Parasitology, Saskatoon Laboratory, as this year’s recipient of the Gilles Demers Award for Excellence in Animal Care. For over 20 years, Ms. Ostrander has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to animal welfare, ethical research practices, and the Three Rs.
Throughout her career, she has applied creativity and evidence-based problem-solving to balance scientific objectives with the humane treatment of animals, proactively identifying and addressing concerns to maintain high standards of care. Her leadership, ethical reflections, and scientific rigour have had a measurable impact on improving animal care standards and strengthening the animal care and use program within her institution.
Her proactive approach to refinement, seen in her innovations in enrichment, housing, and protocol development, as well as her dedication to training, demonstrate a consistent drive to go beyond compliance and meaningfully enhance animal well-being. The CCAC also recognizes her collaborative leadership, mentorship, and dedication to fostering a culture of accountability, ethical responsibility, and continuous improvement, qualities that have strengthened both institutional practice and the broader animal care community.
Please join us in thanking Ms. Ostrander for her professionalism, initiative, and dedication to ethical animal care.
About the award
The Gilles Demers Award for Excellence in Animal Care, named for the late Dr. Gilles Demers, a long-time assessment director at the CCAC, recognizes outstanding individuals who have made exceptional contributions to institutional animal care and use programs, who uphold high ethical standards and practices, and actively champion the CCAC program within their organization.