The Back to the Future actor made a rare public appearance at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, in Ottawa to be promoted to the Companion level of the Order of Canada.
Governor General Louise Arbour said during the ceremony: "Your example reminds us of something that's very fundamental: sustainable progress requires that we move forward with courage, imagination and determination.
"After all, back to the future has always been a much better idea than forward to the past."
Fox was one of 51 people inducted into or promoted within the Order of Canada on Friday.
The Spin City actor revealed in 1998 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's and established the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, which has funded more than $3 billion in research into the disease.
Last month, he received the prestigious Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards for his "transformative contributions to Parkinson's disease research and advocacy" and he hailed the accolade an "amazing, humbling honour".
After a highlights reel from his career, Fox was introduced on stage at Los Angeles' Peacock Theater by his The Good Wife co-star Julianna Margulies and spoke about the award's namesake and how he had learned from Bob Hope's dedication to helping others.
"I learned from his example. I couldn't have known how these lessons would resonate in my own life, until my late 20s, when my life handed me a role I wasn't looking for," he said.
"Initially I kept my Parkinson's diagnosis a secret. I worried it would affect my work and relationships with audiences.
"Would they laugh if they knew I was sick? I was stunned by the support from all of you, so uplifted and I hadn't lost what I do. They couldn't take it away from me. And it's because you stood up for me.
"I understood that accepting Parkinson's didn't mean I had to surrender to it. It just meant I had to do everything I could for everyone living with this disease."
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