The Chief Scout's Award is the highest

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

which can be achieved at the Scout level in

Scouts Canada Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that provides programs for young people ages 5 to 26. It aims "to help develop well-rounded youth, better prepared for success in the world." Scouts Canada, in affiliation with the French-language ...

. It was inaugurated in September 1973 by then

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

Roland Michener Daniel Roland Michener (April 19, 1900 – August 6, 1991) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the 20th governor general of Canada from 1967 to 1974. Michener was born and educated in Alberta. In 1917 he served briefl ...

, in his capacity as Chief Scout. The award was created to provide recognition for Scouts when the Scout program was divided into the Scout and Venturer sections. The former Queen's/Kings's Scout award was renamed as the

Queen's Venturer Award The King's Venturer Award (formerly Queen's Venturer Award) is the highest Scouting proficiency award for Venturer Scouts in Scouts Canada that can be regularly awarded, as the Amory Adventure Award is only awarded to one venturer company each ye ...

, and is the highest award that can be achieved in the Scouting youth program in Canada. Speaking to the prestige of the award, at least one known Chief Scout has gone on to win a Nobel Prize, 4 have become Members of Parliament (currently one sitting MP Frank Baylis) and at least 1 has been a Premier. Others have become titans of industry, technology, academia, finance and media. In order to earn the award a Scout must earn the

Voyageur Voyageurs (; ) were 18th- and 19th-century French people, French and later French Canadians and others who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, i ...

and Pathfinder Activity Awards which require the Scout to develop

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

personal development Personal development or self-improvement consists of activities that develops a person's capabilities and potential, enhance quality of life, and facilitate the realization of dreams and aspirations. Personal development may take place over the ...

and outdoor skills, as well as earn ten Challenge badges, at least one in each of the seven categories (athletics, outdoors, home and family, personal development, science and technology, culture and society, and environment); they must in addition hold current qualifications in Standard

First Aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

, hold the World Scout Environment Badge, investigate and present findings on Scouts Canada's involvement in World Scouting, design a challenging programme which will require the Scout to excel in each of the four activity areas (Citizenship, Leadership, Personal Development, and Outdoor Skills), including at least 30 hours of additional leadership to others (above those required in the Citizenship Activity area of the Voyageur and Pathfinder awards). In working towards the Chief Scout's Award, the Scout will have performed over 30 hours of service in the community, much of it self-directed. They have met with a local service agency and together have discussed and made plans for future improvements in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

. Additional work on the World Scout Environment Badge exposes a Chief Scout's Award candidate to the many environmental issues of today, and they have taken an active role in promoting those issues with the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

. Chief Scout's Award candidates amass more than 100 kilometers in hiking camps and they spend time as trainers helping their fellow Scouts work on their own badge levels. Scouts Canada has, in the past, proposed replacing the award with a membership to the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Youth Ensemble after completion of the same requirements, but lacking the required signatures of 250 Chief Scout recipients, this has yet to be approved. The first recipients of the award were Kevin Stille and Ian Wiggs, both of Ottawa.

References

See also