The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Ontario residents for conspicuous achievements in any field.

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• Wikipedia

Structure and appointment

The Order of Ontario is intended to honour any current or former longtime resident of Ontario who has demonstrated a high level of individual excellence and achievement in any field, demonstrating "the best of Ontario's caring and diverse society and [whose] lives have benefited society in Ontario and elsewhere." Canadian citizenship is not a requirement and elected or appointed members of a governmental body are ineligible as long as they hold office. There are no limits on how many can belong to the order or be inducted at one time, though the average number of new members stands at 24 per year.

The process of finding qualified individuals begins with submissions from the public to the Ontario Honours and Awards Secretariat, which consists of the Chief Justice of Ontario (who serves as the chairperson), the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Secretary of the Cabinet, and up to six members of the Order of Ontario. This committee then meets once or twice yearly to make its selected recommendations to the Cabinet and works with that body in narrowing down the potential appointees to a list that will be submitted to the lieutenant governor. Since appointments to the Order of Ontario rely in part on ministerial advice, records of such proceedings are not publicly revealed, as affirmed in court proceedings undertaken in 2002 by an individual who had been mistakenly informed that she had been appointed to the order. Posthumous nominations are not accepted, though an individual who dies after his or her name was submitted to the Honours and Awards Secretariat can still be retroactively made a Member of the Order of Ontario. The lieutenant governor, ex officio a Member and the Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, then makes all appointments into the fellowship's single grade of membership by an Order in Council that bears the viceroyal sign-manual and the Great Seal of the province; thereafter, the new Members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters OOnt (sometimes rendered as O.Ont.).

Insignia

Upon admission into the Order of Ontario, new Members are presented with the order's insignia. The main badge consists of a gold medallion in the form of a stylized trillium, the official provincial flower. The obverse is white enamel with gold edging, bearing at its centre the escutcheon of the arms of Ontario, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown symbolizing the Canadian monarch's role as the fount of honour. The name of the Member is engraved on the reverse, along with the date of his or her investiture. The order's ribbon is patterned with vertical stripes in red, green, white, and gold, reflecting the colours within the provincial coat of arms; men wear the medallion suspended from this ribbon at the collar, while women carry theirs on a ribbon bow at the left chest. Members also receive two lapel pins that can be worn during less formal occasions, and an official certificate.

Members

1987

• John Black Aird – 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Aline Akeson
• J. M. S. Careless – historian
• Bill Davis – Premier of Ontario (1971–85)
• Celia Franca – founder of National Ballet of Canada
• Harry Gairey
• Duncan Gordon
• Roger Guindon – university administrator
• Dianne Harkin
• Cleeve Horne – portrait painter and sculptor
• Benjamin Sinclair Johnson – sprinter
• Franc Joubin – prospector and geologist
• Johnny Lombardi – pioneer of multicultural broadcasting in Canada
• Clifford McIntosh
• Oskar Morawetz – composer
• John Polanyi – Nobel laureate
• Al Purdy – poet
• James Swail
• Bessie Touzel
• Whipper Billy Watson – professional wrestler, supporter of children's charities

1988

• Alex Baumann – competitive swimmer, Olympic medalist
• June Callwood – journalist, author and social activist
• Floyd Chalmers – editor, publisher and philanthropist
• Robertson Davies – novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, professor, founding Master of Massey College
• Reva Gerstein – first woman Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario (1992–96)
• Charlotte Lemieux
• Walter Frederick Light – business executive
• Gordon Lightfoot – singer and songwriter
• Dennis McDermott – trade unionist, Canadian Director of the United Auto Workers (1968–78), and president of the Canadian Labour Congress (1978–86)
• Pauline McGibbon – 22nd Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario
• Don Moore
• Bernice Noblitt
• John C. Parkin – architect
• Beryl Potter
• John Josiah Robinette – lawyer
• Murray Ross – founding president of York University
• Robert B. Salter – Orthopedic surgeon and professor
• John Weinzweig – composer

1989

• Louis Applebaum – composer
• John Bassett – publisher, media baron
• Dorothy Beam
• Leonard Birchall – decorated RCAF pilot (World War II)
• Violet Blackman
• Morley Callaghan – author & playwright
• Paul Charbonneau
• Charles George Drake – neurosurgeon
• Anne Gribben
• James Ham
• Kenneth Hare – climatologist
• Daniel Iannuzzi – broadcaster
• Norman Jewison – film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre
• Basil Johnston – Anishinaabe writer & storyteller
• Cliff Lumsdon – world champion marathon swimmer
• Janet Murray
• Laure Rièse – educator; first female faculty member to obtain a PhD from University of Toronto
• Harry Thode – geochemist, nuclear chemist, and academic administrator
• Eberhard Zeidler – architect

1990

• James Archibald
• Margaret Atwood – writer
• John Bailey
• Maxwell Enkin
• Maureen Forrester – contralto
• Ursula Franklin – metallurgist, research physicist, author and educator
• George R. Gardiner – businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum
• Stanley Grizzle – trade union activist
• Karen Kain – dancer
• Vicki Keith – marathon swimmer
• Wilbert Keon – heart surgeon, scientific researcher
• Dr. Robert McClure – surgeon, missionary, Moderator of the United Church of Canada (1968–71), social activist
• Roland Michener – 20th Governor-General of Canada
• Roderick Moran
• Brian Orser – figure skater (Olympic medallist/world champion)
• Clifford Pilkey – trade union leader
• Wilfrid Sarazin
• Herbert Smith
• Kathleen Taylor
• Jean Woodsworth

1991

• Gerald Barbeau
• John Basmajian – scientist
• Elisabeth Bednar
• Agnes Benidickson – first female Chancellor of Queen's University
• Liona Boyd – classical guitarist
• Clara Bernhardt
• A. J. Casson – artist, member of the Group of Seven
• Clifford Chadderton – veteran (World War II), CEO of The War Amps
• Frances Dafoe – figure skater, World Champion and Olympic medallist
• Dora de Pedery-Hunt – artist, designer of coins for Royal Canadian Mint
• John Craig Eaton – businessman
• John Robert Evans – pediatrician, academic, businessperson, civic leader, founding dean of McMaster University Faculty of Medicine
• Timothy Findley – author & playwright
• Mary Lou Fox
• Wilbur Howard
• William Goldwin Carrington Howland – lawyer, judge and former Chief Justice of Ontario
• Greta Kraus
• Sim Fai Liu
• Veronica O'Reilly
• Tom Patterson – founder of Stratford Festival of Canada
• Walter Pitman – president of Ryerson University (1975–80)
• Annabel Slaight
• Arthur Solomon
• Louis Temporale
• George Rutherford Walker
• Lois Miriam Wilson – first female Moderator of the United Church of Canada (1980–82)

1992

• Lincoln Alexander – 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Bromley Armstrong – civil rights leader
• Boris Berlin – pianist, music educator, arranger, and composer
• Pierre Berton – author, journalist, TV personality
• Suzanne Rochon-Burnett – first aboriginal person in Canada to own and operate a private commercial radio station
• Linda Crabtree
• Stefan Dupré
• William Hutt – actor
• Germain Lemieux|http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germain_Lemieux
• Arthur Martin
• Doris McCarthy – artist
• Terry Meagher
• Raymond Moriyama – architect
• Fraser Mustard – physician and scientist
• Oscar Peterson – jazz pianist
• Serafina Petrone
• Nancy Pocock
• Harry Rasky – documentary film producer
• Judith Simser
• Rose Wolfe – Chancellor of the University of Toronto (1991–1997)

1993

• Roberta Bondar – astronaut
• Pat Capponi – author and advocate for mental health issues and poverty issues
• Jean-Gabriel Castel – law professor and Professor Emeritus at Osgoode Hall Law School
• Tirone David – cardiac surgeon
• Colin diCenzo
• Budhendra Doobay
• Grace Hartman – first female mayor of Sudbury
• Daniel G. Hill – civil servant, human rights specialist, and Black Canadian historian
• Thomas Hill
• Karl Kaiser
• Murray Koffler – businessman and philanthropist
• Benjamin Lu – chemical engineering professor and Professor Emeritus at University of Ottawa
• Abbyann Lynch
• Lois Marshall – concert soprano
• Isabel McLaughlin
• Gunther Plaut – author
• Paul Rekai
• Mary Stuart
• William Tamblyn
• Shirley Van Hoof
• Donald J.P. Ziraldo

1994

• Prasanta Basu
• Joan Chalmers – philanthropist
• Martin Connell – businessman and philanthropist
• Elsie Cressman
• Lorna deBlicquy
• Selma Edelstone
• Nicholas Goldschmidt – conductor, first music director of the Royal Conservatory Opera School (University of Toronto)
• Martha Henry – actress
• Conrad Lavigne – media executive
• Donald C. MacDonald – politician
• Flora MacDonald – politician
• Edwin Mirvish – businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario
• Alice Munro – writer
• Phil Nimmons – jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader
• Ted Nolan – hockey player and coach
• George Pedersen – president of University of Western Ontario (1985 to 1994)
• Ronald Satok
• Nelles Silverthorne
• Elizabeth Thorn
• Bryan Walls

1995

• Doris Anderson – author, journalist, women's rights activist
• Tim Armstrong
• Harry Arthurs – lawyer, academic, labour law scholar
• Douglas Bassett – media executive
• Thomas Beck
• Laurent Belanger
• Marlene Castellano
• Shirley Carr – labour leader, first woman president the Canadian Labour Congress.
• Angela Coughlan – internationally ranked competitive swimmer, Olympic medallist
• Corinne Devlin
• Robert Filler
• Ted Hargreaves – businessman and charitable fundraiser
• Elmer Iseler – conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, founder of the Festival Singers of Canada and the Elmer Iseler Singers
• Heather Johnston
• Vim Kochhar
• Linda Lundström – fashion designer
• Lloyd Perry
• Natavarlal Shah
• William Somerville

1996

• Avie Bennett – businessman and philanthropis
• Huguette Burroughs
• Herbert Carnegie – hockey player
• Jesse Davidson & John Davidson
• Clifford Evans
• Gregory Evans – judge
• Ellen Louks Fairclough – first female member of the Canadian federal Cabinet
• Amber Foulkes
• Charles Godfrey
• Kamala-Jean Gopie – political activist
• Chris Hadfield – astronaut
• Tommy Hunter – country singer
• Arlette Lefebvre – child psychologist at the Hospital for Sick Children
• Jeffrey Wan-shu Lo
• Janet Lunn – children's writer
• Trisha Romance
• Etienne Saint-Aubin
• Ezra Schabas
• Al Waxman – actor
• William Wilkinson
• Doreen Wicks – humanitarian

1997

• John Brooks
• François Chamberland
• Audrey Cole
• John Colicos – actor
• William Coyle
• Leslie Dan – businessman
• Michael de Pencier
• Jack Diamond – architect, founding director of the Master of Architecture program at the University of Toronto
• Charles Dubin – judge
• Ralph Ellis
• Larry Grossman – politician
• Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook – portrait sculptor
• Ron Ianni
• Roy Laine
• Moon Lum
• Kathleen Mann
• Judith Meeks
• Nancy Raeburn
• Jack Rabinovitch – philanthropist and founder of the Giller Prize
• Richard Rohmer – writer
• Bob Rumball
• Nalini Stewart
• Paul Tsai

1998

• Marion Anderson – Aboriginal band councillor
• Bluma Appel – philanthropist, arts patron
• Jean Ashworth Bartle – Founder and director of the Toronto Children's Chorus
• Allan Leslie Beattie – lawyer, former chairman of the board for the Hospital for Sick Children
• Irene Broadfoot – community activist
• Norman Campbell – television director & producer, playwright
• Armando Felice DeLuca – community activist
• Claire O. Dimock – community activist
• Ydessa Hendeles – Founder, director and curator of the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation and Grand Founder of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
• Dr. Kenneth C. Hobbs – physician, international humanitarian
• Henry N. R. Jackman – business leader, philanthropist, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Chair of the Ontario Arts Council and Chancellor of the University of Toronto
• Maureen Kempston Darkes – President and General Manager of General Motors Canada Ltd. and community activist
• Marvelle Koffler – Founder of the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Koffler Centre for the Arts
• Dr. Lap Cheung Lee – community activist
• Andrée Lortie – advocate for the Francophone community
• Knowlton Nash – journalist
• Alfred U. Oakie – pioneer in traffic safety
• Lloyd Seivright – activist
• Masami Tsuruoka – sports figure
• Thomas Leonard Wells – politician

1999

• William Blake – Community activist
• Doris Boissoneau – Ojibwe language activist
• Paul Michel Bosc – Wine-maker
• Mavis Elaine Burke – Educator, advocate for early childhood education and community activist
• Clarice Chalmers – Philanthropist
• Keshav Chandaria – philanthropist
• Susan Charness – disability-rights activist
• Sam John Ciccolini – entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Esther Farlinger – charity fundraiser
• Victor Feldbrill – violinist, orchestral conductor and champion of Canadian music
• Dr. James Ferguson – medical researcher
• Maxwell Goldhar – businessman, philanthropist
• Doris Lau – financial adviser, charity fundraiser, goodwill ambassador for Ontario and scholarship sponsor
• Eileen McGregor – community activist
• Winnie "Roach" Leuszler – first Canadian to swim the English Channel, sportswoman
• Alice King Sculthorpe – community activist
• Dr. Bette Stephenson – physician, founding member of the College of Family Physicians Canada, former Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP and cabinet minister
• Hin Cheung Tam – community activist
• Gordie Tapp – entertainer
• Anthony Toldo – industrialist and philanthropist
• Lisette Véron-Rainu – children's activist
• Ken Watts – Founder of the Ontario Collegiate Drama Festival

2000

• Danielle Allen and Normand Pellerin – educators
• Maggie Atkinson – Lawyer and AIDS activist
• Marilyn Brooks – Fashion designer and philanthropist
• Nickie Cassidy – activist on behalf of sufferers of multiple sclerosis
• Ernie Checkeris – Educator and activist, Chancellor of Thorneloe University, Sudbury
• George A. Cohon – Chicago-born lawyer; founder/senior chairman of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada; philanthropist
• Lloyd Dennis – educator
• William Andrew Dimma – businessman and educator
• Kildare Dobbs – writer, journalist
• Joyce Fee – educator and community activist
• Dr. Robert Freedom – physician, professor and author
• Donald H. Harron – journalist, author and actor
• Jane Jacobs – U.S.-born naturalized Canadian author; Toronto-based urban philosopher
• Stephan Lewar – venture capitalist, financier and philanthropist
• Janet MacInnis – fundraiser and volunteer
• Frank Miller – politician (former Premier of Ontario)
• Betty Oliphant – founder of the National Ballet School of Canada
• J. Robert S. Prichard – educator, author and former President of the University of Toronto
• Joseph Radmore – athlete, member of the Canadian Paralympic Team
• Margaret M. Risk – nurse
• Haroon Siddiqui – journalist, columnist
• Dr. Calvin Stiller – physician
• Donald A. Stuart – gold and silversmith
• Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui – molecular geneticist; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong
• Irving Ungerman – entrepreneur, boxer and activist

2001

• Richard M. Alway – President/Vice-Chancellor of St. Michael's College, promoter of Catholic-Anglican dialogue in Canada
• Gwen M. Boniface – first female Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner
• Rita Burak – public servant
• Danielle Campo – athlete, member of the Canadian Paralympic Team
• Michael "Pinball" Clemons – President and former player of the Toronto Argonauts
• Ken Danby – artist
• Terry Daynard – researcher, teacher
• Terrence J. Donnelly – fundraiser for cardiac research and development
• Gail J. Donner – Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto; Executive Director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
• Fredrik Stefan Eaton – businessman, community volunteer
• C. Dennis Flynn – elected official, fundraiser, community volunteer and war veteran
• Prof. Dr. Nicolas D. Georganas – pioneer in multimedia medical communications and telelearning
• Helen Haddow – community activist
• Paul Kells – workplace safety advocate
• Jake Lamoureux – Volunteer with young people
• Alexina Louie – composer of classical music
• Lewis W. MacKenzie, Major General (Retired) – Ontario Director of ICROSS Canada, the International Community for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering
• Signe and Robert McMichael – builders and donors of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection of Group of Seven paintings in Kleinburg
• Dusty Miller – patron of the arts, artistic director of the Cambrian Players
• David Mirvish – leader in the development and promotion of the visual arts in Ontario
• Peter Nesbitt Oliver – historian
• James S. Redpath – Chancellor of Nipissing University
• Dr. Donald T. Stuss – clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist and behavioural neuroscientist
• Bhausaheb Ubale – human rights activist
• Dr. Carin Wittnich – University of Toronto professor and researcher
• Madeline Ziniak – Vice-president and executive producer of CFMT television, promoter of multiculturalism

2002

• Peggy Baker – dancer, choreographer and teacher; founder of the Toronto-based Dancemakers
• James K. Bartleman – Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
• Marilyn Bell DiLascio – first person to swim Lake Ontario (1954)
• David Blackwood – artist
• Frederick M. Catzman – lawyer
• Austin Clarke – author, teacher, mentor, writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto; recipient of the 2002 Giller Prize
• Barbara Chilcott – actress
• Mario Cortellucci – fundraiser
• Patricia Freeman Marshall – community activist
• Irving R. Gerstein – businessman, philanthropist
• Joan Goldfarb – teacher of adults with disabilities
• Walter Gretzky – Ambassador for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and father of Wayne Gretzky
• Phyllis M. Grosskurth – Professor emerita and Fellow, Massey College, University of Toronto; 1965 winner of the Governor General's Award for non-fiction
• Dr. Raymond O. Heimbecker – cardiovascular surgeon
• Patrick John Keenan – volunteer
• Tom Kneebone – actor, playwright
• Burton Kramer – graphic designer
• Dr. Benson Lau – physician and teacher
• J. Douglas Lawson – Vice-Chairman of the Ontario Arts Council
• Rhéal Leroux – Volunteer, former president of the Festival Franco-Ontarien
• Dr. William K. Lindsay – surgeon and professor
• Joan Murray – art historian, former director of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa
• Dr. Mark J. Poznansky – President and Scientific Director of the Robarts Research Institute
• Dr. Joanna Santa Barbara – physician, national president of the Physicians for Global Survival
• Thomas H. B. Symons – founder of Trent University and its president and vice-chancellor (from 1961–72)
• Lela Wilson – artists' rights activist

2003

• Joseph J. Barnicke – businessman and philanthropist
• John Kim Bell – musician, promoter of Aboriginal culture
• Col. Archibald J. D. Brown – businessman, community activist
• Dorothy Ellen Duncan – Executive Director of The Ontario Historical Society, teacher, curator
• Julian Fantino – police officer, former Chief of Police for London, York Region and Toronto; Ontario's Commissioner of Emergency Management; now Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police
• Mary Germain – community activist
• Dr. Avis E. Glaze – teacher, administrator, writer and international educator
• Dr. Benjamin Goldberg – psychiatrist
• Doris Grinspun – Executive Director of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO)
• George Gross – Corporate Sports Editor of Sun Media Corporation
• Macklin Hancock – pioneer in urban planning, urban design and landscape architecture
• Ryan Hreljac – elementary school student, committed to raising funds for clean water and sanitation projects around the world since the age of six
• Dr. Frederic Jackman – psychologist
• Laura Louise Legge – lawyer, community activist
• Helen Lu – volunteer, organizer and fundraiser for charitable organizations in Toronto
• Dr. Donald Mackay – Professor of Environmental and Resource Studies at Trent University, and director of the Canadian Environmental Modelling Centre
• Hon. Jack Marshall – Second World War veteran, Member of Parliament, Senator, and activist
• Anna Porter – writer, book publisher
• Hon. Robert Keith Rae – Member of Parliament, former Premier of Ontario, lawyer
• Eric Wilfrid Robinson – promoter of adult education
• Diane Simard Broadfoot – community activist
• Joan Thompson – volunteer
• Rita Tsang – businesswoman
• Hon. Mabel Van Camp – judge; first woman on the Supreme Court of Ontario
• Mike Weir – golfer; first Canadian to win the Masters Golf Tournament
• Kirk Albert Walter Wipper – environmentalist, heritage conservationist and fitness advocate (died 2011)
• William John Withrow – former director of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)

2004

• Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr – engineer
• Jeff Adams – Paralympian and world champion in wheelchair sports
• Mohammad Azhar Ali Khan – journalist, multiculturalism expert
• Diana Alli – outreach worker
• Patricia Ann Arato – aphasia care volunteer
• Dr. Robin F. Badgley – sociologist, founder of Department of Behavioural Science at the University of Toronto
• Iain Baxter& – conceptual artist
• Louise Binder – speaker on HIV/AIDS issues
• Richard Bradshaw – director of the Canadian Opera Company
• Leonard A. Braithwaite – lawyer and former MPP
• Dr. Inez Elliston – educator, community volunteer
• Adele Fifield – director of "The War Amps"
• Joan Francolini – community volunteer
• Sheldon Galbraith – figure skating coach
• Dr. Allan Gross – Professor of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
• Andrea Hansen – violinist
• Joyce Ann Lange – advocate for the hearing impaired
• Delores Lawrence – leading female entrepreneur and philanthropist
• René J. Marin – respected Francophone jurist
• David McGirr – community volunteer in Northern Ontario
• Anthony Pawson – scientist known for research of signal transduction in cells
• Kim Phuc Phan Thi – Vietnamese napalm victim
• John Rochon – marksman
• Chandrakant Shah – public health educator
• Gordon Surgeoner – entomologist specializing in insect transmitted diseases
• Galen Weston – businessman in food services sector
• Reverend Monsignor Lawrence Anthony Wnuk – outreach worker to the Polish community
• James Young – former Chief Coroner
• Margaret Zeidler – architect

2005

• Naomi Alboim – public servant
• Ron Barbaro – community service
• Harold Brathwaite – educator
• Boris Brott – conductor (Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra)
• Donald Carr – lawyer
• Brian Desbiens – educator
• Thomas Dignan – Aboriginal healthcare advocate
• Deborah Ellis – children's author, human rights advocate
• Hughes Eng – community service
• Brenda L. Gallie – Expert in the treatment of retinoblastoma
• Dorothy Griffiths – researcher, educator
• William A. Harshaw – fundraiser for Parkinson's disease
• John Honderich – former editor and publisher, Toronto Star
• Leon Katz – engineer, medical inventor
• Gisèle Lalonde – educator
• Mike Lazaridis – founder, Research in Motion; inventor, BlackBerry
• Beatrice Levis – advocate for social justice
• Nancy Lockhart – Chair, Ontario Science Centre
• Ernest McCulloch – pioneer in stem cell biology
• Lillian McGregor – teacher of aboriginal languages
• Sher Ali Mirza – engineer
• Ratna Omidvar – former president, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
• Sandra Rotman – philanthropist
• Mark Starowicz – broadcaster, journalist
• Marlene Streit – professional golfer
• Ronald W. Taylor – physician in sports medicine; team physician to the Toronto Blue Jays
• James Till – pioneer in stem cell biology
• John Walker Whiteside – assistant crown attorney
• Moses Znaimer – broadcaster

2007

• Thomas J. Bitove – businessman, community activist
• John Richard Bond – University of Toronto astrophysicist and cosmologist
• Bernice and Rolland Desnoyers – youth activists
• Peter J. George – economist, author, President and Vice Chancellor of McMaster University in Hamilton and Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities
• Christopher A. Harris – cofounder of the Ottawa-Carleton Immigrant Services Organization, the National Capital Alliance on Race Relations and the Jamaican Ottawa Community Association
• Peter Herrndorf – Broadcasting executive
• Rebecca F. Jamieson – First Nations activist
• Max Keeping – Ottawa media personality
• M. David Lepofsky – disability activist
• Dr. Tak W. Mak – biomedical scientist
• J. William McConkey – University of Windsor professor
• Dr. Roderick R. McInnes – University of Toronto professor and senior scientist with the Hospital for Sick Children
• R. Roy McMurtry – former Chief Justice of Ontario and Attorney General of Ontario
• Lorraine Monk – author, photographer, and artist
• Albert Kai-Wing Ng – graphic designer and creator of graphic design accreditation
• Adeena Niazi – helping newcomers settle in Canada
• Gordon M. Nixon – President/CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada
• Margaret Helen Ogilvie – Chancellor's Professor of Law at Carleton University
• Eva Olsson – Holocaust survivor
• Marlene Ann Pierre – Aboriginal activist
• Dr. Frances A. Shepherd – University of Toronto professor
• Janice Gross Stein – scholar, academic
• Paul-François Sylvestre – novelist, researcher and mentor
• William Thorsell – Director/CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum
• Dr. David Walde – Director of the Oncology Program
• Dr. Paul Walfish – University of Toronto professor and senior consultant

2008

• Dr. Michael Baker – physician, cancer researcher
• Dr. Sheela Basrur – Former Chief Medical Officer of Ontario
• George Brady – human rights advocate, public speaker and Auschwitz survivor
• Jack Chiang – journalist, community service
• Tony Dean – Secretary of the Cabinet, credited with improving the Ontario Public Service
• Mary Dickson – lawyer, educator and advocate for people with disabilities
• Noel Edison – Artistic Director of the Elora Festival and the conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
• Frank Fernandes – Toronto businessman and volunteer
• Jean-Robert Gauthier – for his work in advancing French-language education
• Sam George – Native Canadians' rights activist
• Heather Gibson – educator specializing in American Sign Language (ASL)
• Robert A. Gordon – served as president of Humber College
• Gordon Gray – philanthropist
• Susan Hoeg – community service on behalf of the Georgina Island Chippewas
• Claude Lamoureux – served as president and CEO of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
• Patrick Le Sage – served as Chief Justice for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
• Dr. Joe MacInnis – physician, scientist and undersea explorer
• Dr. David MacLennan – biomedical scientist, expert in biochemistry, genetics and physiology of muscle function
• Lorna Marsden – served as President of York University and of Wilfrid Laurier University, and a former senator.
• David Peterson – former Premier of Ontario
• Ed Ratushny – expert on the Canadian judiciary
• Rosemary Sadlier – author and president of the Ontario Black History Society
• Dr. Fuad Sahin – for his contributions to community service; founder of the International Development and Relief Foundation.
• Barbara Ann Scott-King – Olympic champion figure skater in 1948
• Ellen Seligman – for contributions to publishing and support of Canadian authors
• Peter Silverman – broadcaster and consumer advocate
• David Smith – philanthropist
• Ted Szilva – originator and developer of the Big Nickel Project
• Mary Welsh – for 35 years of community and civic contributions

2009

• Constance Backhouse
• Dr. Philip Berger
• Lawrence Bloomberg
• Lesley Jane Boake
• Dr. Helen Chan
• Peter Crossgrove
• Mike DeGagné
• Levente Diosady
• Fraser Dougall
• Jacques Flamand
• Jean Gagnon
• Paul Godfrey – Chair of Metro Toronto (1973–1984), businessman
• Peter Godsoe – businessman
• Ovid Jackson – provincial politician
• Dr. Kellie Leitch – orthopaedic pediatric surgeon; Assoc. Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
• Gerry Lougheed, Jr.
• Diana Mady Kelly
• Naseem Mahdi
• Dr. Samantha Nutt – Executive Director, War Child Canada
• Dr. James Orbinski – physician; Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto; President of Médecins Sans Frontières (1998–2001)
• Bonnie Patterson
• Shirley Peruniak
• Alice Porter
• Ken Shaw – newsreader (CTV)
• Janet Stewart
• Shirley Thomson – civil servant
• George Turnbull
• Dr. Mladen Vranic
• Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik

2010

• Suhayya Abu-Hakima
• Russell Bannock
• Gail Beck
• Joseph Chin
• Lynn Factor
• Gerald Fagan
• Nigel Fisher
• Jacques Flamand
• Lillie Johnson
• Ignat Kaneff
• Mobeenuddin Hassan Khaja
• Elizabeth Ann Kinsella
• Huguette Labelle
• Elizabeth Le Geyt
• Clare Lewis
• Louise Logue
• Gordon McBean
• Wilma Morrison
• James Orbinski
• Coulter Osborne
• Chris Paliare
• Gilles Patry
• Dave Shannon
• Molly Shoichet
• Howard Sokolowski
• Edward Sonshine
• Reginald Stackhouse
• David Staines
• Martin Teplitsky
• Dave Toycen
• John Ronald Wakegijig
• Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

2011

• Peter Adams – politician, professor and volunteer
• Dr. Anna Banerji
• Dr. Sandra E. Black
• Paul Cavalluzzo – Lawyer, Senior Partner, Cavalluzzo Shilton McIntyre Cornish LLP, Barristers and Solicitors
• Catherine Colquhoun
• David Crombie
• Nathalie Des Rosiers
• Marcel Desautels
• Sara Diamond
• Charles Garrad
• Peter Gilgan
• Frank Hayden
• Donald Jackson
• Zeib Jeeva
• Howard McCurdy
• Arthur McDonald
• Noella Milne
• Suzanne Pinel
• Ucal Powell
• Barbara Reid
• Alison Rose
• Linda Schuyler
• Dr. Louis Siminovitch
• Rahul Singh
• Connie Smith
• The Honourable Ray Stortini
• John Tory

2012

• Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
• Michael Burgess
• Mark Cohon
• Glen Cook
• Stephen Cook
• Phyllis Creighton
• Michael Davies
• Ronald Deibert
• Dr. Rory Fisher
• Anne Golden
• Joan Green
• Dr. Vladimir Hachinski
• John D. Honsberger
• Dr. Shafique Keshavjee
• Fr. Joseph MacDonald
• Don MacKinnon
• Deepa Mehta
• Vincent Pawis
• Sr. Helen Petrimoulx
• The Honourable Sydney Robins
• Dr. Gail Robinson
• Mamdouh Shoukri
• Barry Smit
• Brian Stewart
• Frank Tierney
• Marlene Streit (Appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2005 and will be invested at 2013 ceremony)
• Huguette Labelle (Appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2010 and will be invested at 2013 ceremony)

2013

• Irving Abella
• Dr. Mohit Bhandari
• Paul Burston
• George E. Carter
• Ellen Campbell
• Penny Collenette
• Ronald Common
• Paul Corkum
• David Cronenberg
• Alvin Curling
• Allison Fisher
• Claude Gingras
• Avvy Yao Yao Go
• Piers Handling
• Paul Henderson
• Justin Hines
• Ronald Jamieson
• Jeanne Lamon
• Frances Noronha
• Lyn McLeod
• Diane Morrison
• Steve Paikin
• Dr. James Rutka
• Adel Sedra
• Toby Tanenbaum