Canola Award of Excellence

The Manitoba Canola Growers Association would like to acknowledge the accomplishments of individuals and organizations who contribute to the sustained growth and prosperity of Manitoba’s canola industry. At MCGA, we have developed an annual award to be given to an individual who has made a contribution to the canola industry. Any individual or organization involved in the growing, production or marketing of canola is eligible to be nominated. Researchers and educators of canola, as well as chefs and media personalities who promote canola are also eligible.

2025 RECIPIENT

Dr. Stephen Strelkov

Clubroot, a soil-borne disease of canola, was first identified in commercial canola fields near Edmonton, Alberta in 2003. Since then, thousands of infested fields have been identified, and although Alberta remains the hardest hit, the disease is now found across the country in canola growing regions (1). 

When clubroot first emerged, much about the disease was unknown, but over two decades of research have provided a deeper understanding of the pathogen’s behavior and developed tools and methods to manage it.

Dr. Stephen Strelkov, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Alberta began working at the university in 2003 around the same time as the initial outbreak of clubroot in canola fields. His research focuses on diseases of field crops with an emphasis on clubroot of canola. 

“Initially, we were trying to understand clubroot and how to manage it: the shifts in virulence that occur, where they occur, and how it spreads,” he says. “When we first identified clubroot there was not much we could do, except we knew long rotations and cleaning-off machinery helped. Over the years, our knowledge of clubroot has greatly expanded, as have our tools to manage, monitor and work with the disease. This research has helped to mitigate the impact of clubroot on the Prairies. For example, we have identified the predominant strains of the pathogen, which inform resistance breeding efforts. Breeders now know what clubroot strains they need to target.”

This research has helped move the needle forward on understanding how the development of resistant varieties affects the virulence of pathogen populations. “Are they shifting? How do they shift? How do they respond? Going from sort of the basic biology to more of the applied aspects and how these can be used in conjunction with more knowledge-based approaches to manage the disease,” he adds. 

Warren Ellis, President of MCGA, says that Strelkov’s work towards the understanding of clubroot and genetic resistance has contributed to providing Manitoba canola farmers management options to proactively address clubroot. “Clubroot is increasing in the province and without Strelkov’s work Manitoba canola acres would have suffered a much greater impact.”

MCGA selected Strelkov as the 2025 Canola Award of Excellence winner not only in recognition of his over two decades of research, which has had a significant impact on canola production, but also for his contributions to training the next generation of researchers. Over the past 21 years, he has supervised or co-supervised 44 Master’s and Doctoral thesis’ and is currently guiding 12 more, greatly enhancing Canada’s capacity for clubroot research.

“Being a professor is challenging, but it is also very rewarding,” says Strelkov. “Working with people–students and collaborators–makes it all worthwhile. At the end of the day, it’s gratifying to know that we may have contributed to managing a problem and increased the capacity by training new people to help tackle it.”

Strelkov was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was nine. He completed his B.Sc. at the University of Alberta, followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology from the University of Manitoba.

He has authored or co-authored more than 240 peer-reviewed papers, along with numerous research reports and extension articles. Strelkov has been recognized with the ‘Outstanding Young Scientist,’ ‘Outstanding Achievements in Plant Disease Management,’ and ‘Outstanding Research’ awards from the Canadian Phytopathological Society, and was a Killam Annual Professor at the University of Alberta. He is a member of several journal editorial boards and previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology.

He is married with two kids, and enjoys gardening, hiking and most outdoor activities.

Manitoba Canola Growers are thrilled to recognize Dr. Stephen Strelkov with the 2025 Canola Award of Excellence and would like to thank him for his contributions in increasing our understanding of the clubroot pathogen across the prairies and training the next crop of researchers to be able to expand capacity for this type of research.

1 – Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (Government of Alberta). 2015. Clubroot Disease of Canola and Mustard. Agri-Facts, Agdex 140/638-1 (Revised September 2015). 

Previous Award Recipients

• Completed nomination entry form
• Short biographical sketch of the nominee
• Statements detailing the nominee’s dedication and/or contribution to the canola industry
• Additional background information which may prove helpful to the judges
• High quality photograph of the nominee
• Presentation of this award will take place at the MCGA Annual General Meeting.