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Spring 2022 Honorary Degree Recipient

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

For nearly four decades, Chief Terrance Paul has guided the Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton through an incredible economic, social, cultural, and governance transformation. Today, Membertou is one of the most efficient and economically flourishing Indigenous communities in Canada and a role model for community development. Elected in 1984 and reelected every two years since, Chief Paul is credited with tripling his community’s land base, increasing Membertou’s employment rate to 80 per cent, and building economic and social opportunity for the entire Cape Breton region. In 2021, with Chief Paul at the helm, Membertou made the single largest investment ever by an Indigenous group in Canada with the acquisition of 50 per cent of Clearwater Seafoods. 

In 2019, the Membertou Development Corporation — home to 12 corporate entities including Membertou Trade and Convention Centre and Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre — was named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies. Chief Paul has been appointed to the Order of Canada, is an inductee of both the Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Business Halls of Fame and has received the Frank McKenna Leadership Award and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds honorary doctorates from Cape Breton University and Mount Allison University.