Michael J. Fox has spent decades being recognised for the characters he played. On October 2, 2026, he received one of Canada’s biggest honours for something much more personal. The ‘Back to the Future’ star was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest level of the country’s national honours system, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.Fox was among 51 people inducted into or promoted within the Order of Canada that day. The Governor General’s Office recognised him for his global Parkinson’s advocacy, his openness about living with the disease and the work he has done through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Governor General Louise Arbour also had a little fun with Fox’s most famous role during the ceremony.“After all, ‘Back to the Future’ has always been a much better idea than ‘Forward to the Past,’” she said, while praising Fox for choosing to use his public platform to support Parkinson’s research.
Michael J. Fox turned his diagnosis into a bigger fight
Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, when he was 29. He kept the diagnosis private for several years before going public in 1998. In 2000, he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. What started with his own diagnosis has since grown into one of the biggest Parkinson’s research efforts in the world.The foundation says it has now funded $3 billion in global Parkinson’s research since it was established. And Fox is still pushing forward. On September 17, 2026, the foundation announced its $2.5 billion ‘All Grit. No Quit.’ campaign, aimed at speeding up research into new treatments and a cure.It is a striking number, but the reason behind the work is much simpler. Fox knows what it means to live with Parkinson’s, and he has spent years trying to make sure the people who come after him have better options.
Michael J. Fox on why Canada still feels like home
Michael J. Fox, who was born in Edmonton, also spoke about what the honour meant to him personally. “It’s so many things,” he said after the ceremony, reflecting on growing up in Canada. He spoke about loving the country, its culture and the way it has “progressed and corrected course when it needed to, and stayed the course when it needed to.”That connection has stayed with him even after decades of living and working in the United States. At 65, Fox has a career that includes ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Spin City’. But his legacy has grown beyond acting.The Order of Canada honour recognises that second chapter — the one that began with a diagnosis Fox once kept to himself and eventually became a global fight for Parkinson’s research. For Michael J. Fox, the road from actor to advocate was never something he planned. But it has become one of the most important parts of his story.
