Windsor man named Royal Canadian Naval Reserve Sailor of the Year

Captain(N) Geoffrey Hamilton, Central Region Captain, Petty Officer Second Class (PO2) Griffin Chauvin, and Lieutenant-Commander Chris Elliott, the Commanding Officer of HMCS Hunter, take part in a ceremony awarding Chauvin the Naval Reserve Sailor of the Year. April 2, 2026.(Source: Royal Canadian Navy)

The Royal Canadian Navy has announced that a Windsor man is the Naval Reserve Sailor of the Year.

Petty Officer Second Class (PO2) Griffin Chauvin was nominated by his home unit, HMCS Hunter, and was ultimately chosen as this year’s Sailor of the Year following what the Navy calls “a period of exceptional service.”

The Naval Reserve Sailor of the Year award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional professionalism, dedication, and leadership.

The 24-year-old full-time reservist, who went to Brennan Catholic High School in Windsor, joined the reserves in 2018 as part of a co-op education opportunity.

Along with serving as the basic training coordinator at HMCS Hunter, he also spends time volunteering at Windsor’s Downtown Mission.

Chauvin says he really likes being of service to people.

“Even if it’s just kind of in a broad sense where I’m serving Canada as part of the armed forces, it gives me an opportunity to be a part of that and be a part of something bigger than myself. To me, that’s something really important,” he says.

Chauvin says he never thought that he would be where he is today eight years ago because he was a very shy, introverted person.

“Say, if you need to see what that looks like, just look at Griffin. To look at where I am now, there’s quite a lot of reflection that came with hearing that I got the award; it’s good to be recognized for the work that I do now and who I’ve become,” he says.

Along with his work at HMCS Hunter, he says he’s been able travel to several cities across Canada and Europe as a member of the reserves and was even deployed to Latvia as part of Operation REASSURANCE.

Chauvin says the work and the people he works with are rewarding.

“It’s really good to get recognized, but to get recognized means that my leadership has done a great job in providing me with the opportunities to allow me to achieve this award,” he says. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to deploy; I wouldn’t have been able to do many of the other things that allowed me to achieve this award.”

The Naval Reserve is the primary reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy, tasked with generating sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces operations, including domestic safety, security, and defence missions.

HMCS Hunter is a Canadian Naval Reserve Division that serves as a land-based training establishment and recruitment centre for full-time and part-time sailors.