Fourteen exceptional women from across Canada have been welcomed into a powerful legacy of remembrance and resilience. They were inducted into Polytechnique Montréal's Order of the White Rose during a poignant ceremony held on Monday, December 1, 2025.
A Bridge Between Past and Future
The ceremony took place at the very institution where, on December 6, 1989, 14 women were murdered in an anti-feminist attack now recognized as a mass femicide. Maud Cohen, president of Polytechnique Montréal, addressed the gathering, noting how the tragedy forever scarred Montreal and Canada but also galvanized a determination to change the face of engineering.
"The Order of the White Rose is more than a scholarship. It is a bridge between memory and the future, and you are the future," Cohen told the 14 new laureates. She shared that she was among the women who resolved to pursue engineering in direct response to the 1989 shootings.
This year marks a significant expansion of the program. Established in 2015, the Order had previously awarded scholarships to 10 individuals. For the first time, 14 women were each granted a $50,000 bursary to pursue graduate engineering studies anywhere in the world, powerfully multiplying the message of commemoration.
The New Cohort: Innovators and Trailblazers
The inductees represent the forefront of innovation in their fields. Their ambitions are diverse and impactful:
- An aspiring pilot aiming to work in avionics and defence.
- A researcher engineering orthotics for children with scoliosis.
- A scientist working to standardize the measurement of one volt to enable smaller batteries.
They are united by a drive to use engineering to solve pressing global issues, from improving healthcare to combating climate change. Now, they are also united as sisters in a profession where women remain a minority.
Marissa Myhre, a space engineering student at York University, highlighted the immediate bond formed among the cohort. "We've all kind of experienced the same thing... going into a lab or a class and being, like, one of two women," she said. "Hopefully in the future we'll be able to inspire more women to join engineering."
Honouring a Legacy, Building a Pantheon
Angéline Lafleur, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo, spoke on behalf of the group. She thanked the pioneers who paved the way, including her own mother, who once received a scholarship in memory of the Polytechnique victims. "While those affected are women, it's not just a women's issue. It's everyone's responsibility to fight for a brighter future," Lafleur asserted.
Polytechnique also inaugurated a new Pantheon of the Order of the White Rose to honour sustained leadership in advancing women in engineering. The first inductee is Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the 1989 shooting who was injured but returned to her studies a month later.
Provost, now a Member of Parliament and a parliamentary secretary, is a renowned advocate for gun control. She described Polytechnique as the place that gave her strength when "everything seemed broken." Addressing the new inductees, she offered guidance: "Give back, lift others, open doors. This is how we go further. This is how we honour those who came before. You are now part of a family that believes in you profoundly."
The 14 new members of the Order are: Rabab Azeem; Megan Chang; Grace Ciarniello; Marie-Ève Fecteau; Ashna Jain; Catherine Ko; Samantha Krieg; Angéline Lafleur; Brooke MacNeil; Marissa Myhre; Kaitlyn Root; Hanna Sigurdson; Angela Wang; and Ruth Yu.
Their scholarships honour the memory of the 14 women killed on December 6, 1989: Geneviève Bergeron; Hélène Colgan; Nathalie Croteau; Barbara Daigneault; Anne-Marie Edward; Maud Haviernick; Barbara-Maria Klucznik-Widajewicz; Maryse Laganière; Maryse Leclair; Anne-Marie Lemay; Sonia Pelletier; Michèle Richard; Annie St-Arneault; and Annie Turcotte.
