Those who knew Joshua Qiyuk say he was a joy to be around, with a smile that could light up a room and a love for cooking that brought people together.

“Working as a chef was his passion, and he gave it his all,” his mother, Brenda Qiyuk, said.

When he died in a stabbing in Ottawa’s east end at the age of 21 last October, she was devastated. The Ottawa Police Service told CBC the investigation into Qiyuk’s death is ongoing, and no charges have been laid.

But his mother said she’s taking comfort in the knowledge that her son’s memory will live on.

Shortly after his death, C’est Bon Ottawa, the cooking school where Qiyuk got his start, approached her with the idea to create a scholarship in his name.

“That was very amazing to hear. It showed that Joshua inspired a lot of people in a lot of different ways,” she said.

That includes Sierra Conboy, an Inuk student in Algonquin College’s Culinary Management program, who worked with Qiyuk at Indigenous events in Ottawa and knew him through C’est Bon.

Conboy said Qiyuk encouraged her to attend the college.

“He was so dedicated and … focused and just a bright shining light,” she said.

Originally from Baker Lake, Nunavut, Joshua Qiyuk moved to Ottawa, Ont., as a teenager. His mother said he loved cooking from a young age, but it wasn’t until he took a class at C’est Bon through the Inuuqatigiit Centre for Inuit Children, Youth and Families that he knew he wanted to pursue it as a career.

Chefs hope scholarship will inspire young Inuit

“He paid attention to every detail. He just really wanted to absorb everything,” recalled Stefanie Siska, president and CEO of C’est Bon.

The school is funding an annual bursary of $1,500 and a $1,000 merit-based scholarship in his name for Inuit, First Nation and Métis students pursuing culinary arts at Algonquin College, Qiyuk’s alma mater.

Georges Laurier, vice-president and chef instructor at C’est Bon, hopes it will inspire more Inuit youth to pursue cooking as a career.

“Food is not just about sustenance … it’s about sharing what you know, your knowledge. And now there might be chefs having their own establishments or going back north and teaching to the community these things,” he said.

Trudy Metcalfe-Coe shares that hope. The celebrated Inuk chef, who was a mentor to Qiyuk, said he often helped her with events that featured country food.

Prior to his death, she was planning to recruit him to teach cultural cooking classes in Ottawa.

“I was looking forward to having somebody else who I can kind of like, you know, pass the baton to,” she said.

Metcalfe-Coe is now mentoring Conboy, who intends to apply for the scholarship.

“It’s very sad how the scholarship had to happen, but it’s one of those things where it’s very meaningful that … now someone gets to continue to grow because of him,” she said.

“It’s very beautiful that he’ll be remembered this way.”