Defence Minister Peter MacKay hailed Canadian Forces members and their families as the "best Canadians" as he helped hand out scholarships on Thursday to eight sons and daughters of those killed in service.

MacKay joined families and friends of the recipients aboard HMCS Fredericton in Toronto for the third annual Canada Company awards ceremony.

Each recipient receives up to $16,000 each — up to $4,000 per year for up to four years — to help defray the costs of their post-secondary education.

The minister thanked organizations such as Canada Company and Project Hero for their work to build the scholarships and "reach out and touch" military families.

"You no doubt have heard the expression that families are really the strength behind the uniform; it's such a truism, " MacKay told the gathering. "Canadians can never repay the debt we owe you."

The 2010 scholarship recipients are:

• Robert Girouard of Orillia, Ont.
• Kirsten Hess-von Kruedener of Burlington, Ont.
• Sheralynn Kennedy of Winnipeg.
• Matthew Mellish of French Lake, N.B.
• Myriam Mercier of Quebec City.
• Adam Naismith of Moose Jaw, Sask.
• Jocelyn Ranger of Pembroke, Ont.
• Natasha Roberge of Hamner, Ont.

Canada Company is a charitable organzation created in 2006 to give financial and moral support to military members and their families, as well as build the bridge between business and community leaders and the Canadian military.

Project Hero was launched in 2009 by former chief of defence staff, retired general Rick Hillier, and Kevin Reed, a Toronto businessman and an honorary Canadian Forces lieutenant-colonel. The organization pays the undergraduate tuitions of those who have lost a parent while on active duty.