Owen Sound Graduate Among 2025 Canadian Literacy Award Winners
Canada’s premiers celebrate 2025 Literacy Award recipients, including Owen Sound’s Nancy Dewar for Ontario.
Canada’s premiers marked International Literacy Day by naming the 2025 recipients of the Council of the Federation Literacy Award, and one of them is a familiar face in Owen Sound.
Nancy Dewar, who studied at Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus, received Ontario’s award. Her story is one of resilience and reinvention.
Georgian’s Academic and Career Preparation program described Dewar as “a compassionate and resilient learner, advocate, and healthcare professional.”
After an injury ended her motorcycle racing career, and illness made it impossible to continue running a specialized cleaning business, Dewar returned to school as an adult learner.
“This time around, she found the math wasn’t as frightening as she’d remembered it. Early successes in upgrading renewed Nancy’s confidence, and she found a love of learning,” the program shared.
She began with academic upgrading, working her way through math tests she once found intimidating. Success there rekindled her confidence and interest in learning.
Nancy went on to complete her Academic and Career Entrance (ACE) certificate and later graduated from Georgian’s Practical Nursing diploma program in Owen Sound. Along the way, she became a fixture on campus life — even stepping into the role of the college mascot — and an advocate for her peers.
The Literacy Award has been presented annually since 2004 in each province and territory. It recognizes adult learners who return to education as well as educators, volunteers, and organizations working in literacy fields such as health, workplace, Indigenous, family, and community programs.
This year’s 13 recipients include learners, community groups, and advocates from every region of the country, from the Hinton Adult Learning Society in Alberta to the Southwest Literacy Committee in Saskatchewan and Sara McPhee-Knowles in Yukon.
Each award recipient receives a certificate signed by their premier and a medallion from the Council of the Federation, which brings together all 13 provincial and territorial leaders.