July 7, 2026 – The Seeds Canada Awards of Excellence celebrate individuals or teams for their outstanding contributions to the seed industry in Canada. This year’s recipients, Georges Chaussé and Senator Rob Black, have together dedicated almost a century to improving the seed industry.
Each year, Awards of Excellence nominees are evaluated on demonstrated leadership, achievements, and results, as well as their impact or innovation that has positively impacted the seed industry. Seeds Canada congratulates Chausses and Black on this well-deserved recognition by our members.
Without Georges Chaussé, Seeds Canada itself might not exist. As the 68th President of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, he helped guide the industry through the Seed Synergy Collaboration Project, the effort to bring together four national organizations into what became Seeds Canada. He was subsequently selected as a founding member of the Seeds Canada Board.
Over nearly four decades, Chaussé built his career starting as a seed salesperson in Joliette, Quebec, and rising to become Director of Seeds Services at Sollio Agriculture. Chaussé helped build the Elite Seeds brand into a major force in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, and later played a central role in the joint venture with Maizex Seeds. He is known for working with people, not through them.
His impact extended deeply into Quebec as well, where he served as President of the Association des marchands de semences du Québec (AMSQ) and worked to ensure the seed industry had a strong, credible voice with provincial government in a market that requires unique understanding of both language and operating realities.
“There are people who talk about agriculture, and then there are people who live it — who have spent their careers getting up before dawn, driving country roads, and sitting across kitchen tables with farmers to understand what this industry truly needs,” Blake Ashton, General Manager of Maizex Seeds says of Chaussé.
Senator Rob Black has dedicated his life’s work to the agriculture industry, and he continues every day in Ottawa to make sure the seed sector has a seat at the table.
Before he set foot in the Senate chamber, Black spent decades in agriculture media and communications, educating farmers, agronomists, and industry stakeholders, and making sure the story of Canadian agriculture was told with accuracy and passion. He understood, long before many others, that the seed sitting in a farmer’s planter is where the food system begins.
Black was appointed to the Senate in 2021 to represent Ontario. As a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, he has worked to ensure that seed innovation, crop protection, and the importance of a competitive Canadian seed sector are front and centre in national policy conversations. He has been a steadfast supporter of supported Seeds Canada and understands deeply what a strong, unified seed industry means for the future of Canadian agriculture.
“What makes Rob truly exceptional is his ability to bridge worlds, to walk into a room of farmers, a boardroom, or a Senate committee and speak credibly to all of them,” says Ellen Sparry, Seeds Canada Board member and General Manager of C&M Seeds. “He has built and strengthened relationships between government, industry, and farm communities in ways that genuinely move the needle.”
Seeds Canada will open nominations for the 2027 Awards of Excellence in spring 2027.