The Canadian College of Health Leaders is proud to announce that Altaf Stationwala, President and CEO of Unity Health Toronto, has been named the recipient of the CCHL Distinguished Leadership Award, the College’s highest honour recognizing visionary leadership and enduring contributions to Canada’s health system. A proud College member for more than 25 years, Altaf embodies the Award’s core values: exemplary commitment, lifelong learning, and a career defined by bettering the lives of others. His longstanding engagement with the College, as a speaker, mentor, supporter of HPRS sessions, and past recipient of the Robert Zed Young Leader Award, reflects a deep and sustained dedication to strengthening leadership capacity across the country.
Throughout his career, Altaf has demonstrated a remarkable trajectory of growth, impact, and service. From his early days as Director of Planning at William Osler Health System to senior executive roles at Mount Sinai Hospital, and later as President and CEO of Mackenzie Health, Altaf has consistently led transformative change. His leadership was instrumental in the planning, construction, and opening of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital—the first net-new hospital built in Ontario in decades—and in laying the groundwork for a future medical school in partnership with York University. In 2025, Altaf assumed the role of President and CEO of Unity Health Toronto, one of Canada’s largest Catholic academic health systems, where his calm, principled, and people‑centred leadership has already strengthened integrated care, advanced partnerships, and provided stability during a period of significant system strain.
Altaf’s influence extends far beyond the organizations he has led. A respected national voice, he has served as Chair of the Ontario Hospital Association, contributed to major supply chain and safety initiatives through roles with Mohawk-Medbuy and GS1 Canada, and supported quality improvement as a surveyor with Accreditation Canada. His commitment to system stewardship is evident in his leadership of Ontario Health Teams and in his appointment as Supervisor of Renfrew Victoria Hospital. Known as a connector, mentor, and champion of emerging leaders, Altaf exemplifies the LEADS framework in action. His ability to build coalitions, achieve results, and drive system transformation has left an indelible mark on healthcare in Ontario and across Canada.
The CCHL Distinguished Leadership Award honours a Champion of Performance Improvement. Winners of this Award are passionate and visionary leaders who have led transformative change, demonstrated exemplary engagement and collaboration and a dedication to building leadership capacity.
The award is sponsored by GE HealthCare. GE HealthCare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. Their expertise in healthcare technologies is helping clinicians re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease.
This award is part of our CCHL National Awards Program and will be presented at the Honouring Health Leadership event on June 14, 2026.
For further information and/or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Christian Coulombe
Vice-President, Marketing & Membership
Canadian College of Health Leaders
613-235-7219, ext. 213
ccoulombe@cchl-ccls.ca
