Steele hopes time as Citizen of the Year will inspire others to give back

June 25, 2026 · 0 Comments

Aurora’s 2026 Citizen of the Year, Doug Steele, will be at the heart of Canada Day celebrations on July 1 as he helps lead the celebratory parade up Yonge Street on July 1.

It’s an honour long-enjoyed by Citizens of the Year, but it’s decidedly outside the comfort zone for Steele, who prefers to do his work behind the scenes. But Citizen of the Year duties call, and he hopes that however reluctant he might be to be at the centre of attention, it might inspire others to find ways to give back to their community.

Steele was named Aurora’s Citizen of the Year at the 2026 Community Recognition Awards evening held at Aurora Town Square on May 25. Surprised by the honour, Steele was a man of few words that night, but had more insights to offer once the reality of the award set in.

“It’s really about all the people I’ve worked with,” says the former Welcoming Arms Executive Director, who now serves as Board Chair for the ecumenical organization founded by local churches to help local residents make ends meet through financial and nutritional support. “That’s just the way I feel. Others have said, ‘Don’t be so humble,’ but sorry, I don’t know how to do otherwise.”

Looking ahead to his role in Canada’s birthday celebrations, he jokes, “I’d rather be hiding under a rock,” but this is not necessarily the case.

“I certainly hope to leverage the notoriety of the award to help Welcoming Arms, which is my main focus now – from exposure, perhaps from a fundraising standpoint, or drawing new clients who don’t know about us,” he says.

Steele’s community volunteerism is not limited to Welcoming Arms.

He first became active in the community as a member and eventual Chair of the Light of Christ Catholic Elementary School Council.

“I wanted to be engaged in the school my children were in,” he says. “In Year Two, I was chair of the Welcoming Arms Council and I guess that just lit a fire. To be honest, my mom was a massive volunteer in Toronto where I grew up and she was a great example. She was president of Bloorview Hospital and also the Bloorview Foundation. I took notice of her volunteer activities when I was young and that was probably in the back of my mind all the time while I was getting involved in the community.”

He credits his wife and children for first getting him involved in Welcoming Arms as his two youngest sons gained their high school community service hours with Welcome Table, one of the organization’s much-valued weekly meal programs.

“While our youngest was doing that, my wife joined the team as well, and it was a ‘put your money where your mouth is’ kind of thing. She suggested I might enjoy it, so I volunteered to be a dishwasher, mostly because it was behind the scenes; that’s sort of my modus operandi, to be quiet and do things, but not looking or notoriety.

“From there, I spent a few years washing dishes and it was great. You could feel what you were doing was good for the community. While I was doing that, I was also on the Board of Governors for Villanova College in King City because my children went there – so I’m a big protective daddy kind of guy, I guess.”

Steele forged his professional career in the hardware and housewares industry and says he learned a lot from the business people involved at Villanova.

“I didn’t know the first thing about charities apart from knowing it’s good to give back to your community,” he says. “It was during this time that I reconnected with my faith. Welcoming Arms is an ecumenical Christian organization – that was big for me and continues to be. They’re a joy to be chair of. If they want me, I’m here. I love working with the organization. [Current Executive Director] Sally Freitas keeps me coming back because she’s just so engaged and so good at what she does. That’s the best thing I was ever involved in with Welcoming Arms – being on the committee that hired her.”

If he can help shine a light on volunteerism during his reluctant time as Citizen of the Year, that wouldn’t hurt, either. For those looking to get more involved in their community, he has one word of advice: “Don’t be nervous.”

“If you feel like it might be a good thing, go for it and give it a good chance. That’s what I did with the dishwashing and with all my volunteer efforts. I said, ‘Well, let me give it a try.’ Once you get involved, you’ll find quickly either you don’t like it or it’s been fantastic and you want to keep going. I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve been engaged in a number of different things and they’ve all been really rewarding for myself – and thankfully for others, too, because that’s really what I do it for.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter