Startup Canada has opened nominations for its sixth annual Startup Canada Awards. Businesses, organizations, and individuals are able to apply for awards recognizing diversity, business achievement, and the business support ecosystem.
Regional award winners will be announced at ceremonies in the spring, taking place in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Edmonton, Mississauga, Montreal, and Fredericton. The final event is set to take place in Toronto in October.
“The Startup Canada Awards have become Canada’s platform to honour those advancing Canada’s entrepreneurial economy.”
The Startup Canada Awards recognize achievement for those working to advance entrepreneurship in Canada, while aiming to promote Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture.
“The Startup Canada Awards have become Canada’s leading platform to honour those advancing Canada’s entrepreneurial economy and to inspire all of us to take bigger and bolder steps to make a difference here at home and globally,” said Victoria Lennox, co-founder and president of Startup Canada. “We invite entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, industries, and regions to apply and to nominate the organizations and champions that have supported them along the way.”
Last year’s winners from the Ontario region included Michael Katchen, co-founder and CEO of WealthSimple, for the Entrepreneur of the Year award. In May 2018, Startup Canada announced the winners of the Prairies, BC, and the Northern Canada regions, which included Edmonton-based Hendrix AI. Winners of the Quebec and Atlantic Canada regions were announced in June, with the Quebec Innovation Award given to Cherif Habib, CEO and co-founder of Dialogue.
Winners of the awards join an alumni network of former recipients, including Wattpad founder Allen Lau, AcesssNow founder Maayan Ziv, and Peace by Chocolate founder Tareq Hadhad.
There are 17 different Startup Canada Awards to apply to, including the Indigenous Entrepreneur award, the Entrepreneur Support award, and the Community Leader of the Year award. Individuals and organizations can self-nominate, or nominate someone else.
Nominations close on March 24. Applications for the awards can be found here.
Featured image courtesy Startup Canada.