Your guide to a successful Canada’s Volunteer Awards nomination

Do you know an individual or business that should be recognized for their volunteer contributions in Canada? Have you ever considered nominating them for a Canada’s Volunteer Award (CVA)?

Here is everything you need to know. ??

What are Canada’s Volunteer Awards?

Canada’s Volunteer Awards recognize volunteers, not-for-profit organizations, social enterprises and businesses for their contributions across the country.

CVA recipients are recognized in the following ways:

• at an award ceremony to celebrate volunteers
• with a certificate signed by the Prime Minister and a lapel pin from the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
• with a grant of $5,000 or $10,000, depending on the category of the award, that they can direct to a not-for-profit organization

Ready to nominate?

Here are three tips to help you with your nomination:

1. Familiarize yourself with the award categories

The CVAs are made up of five categories with unique criteria. Each award category is open to certain individuals or groups. By taking the time to understand the specifications, you can tailor your application to focus on those requirements.

• Thérèse Casgrain Lifelong Achievement Award – this category is open to individuals who have volunteered for 20 years or more
• Community Leader – this category is open to individuals or groups of individuals who volunteer together or on their own
• Emerging Leader – this category is open to individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 who show leadership in their volunteering
• Business Leader – this category is open to businesses or for-profit social enterprises who promote volunteering and practise corporate social responsibility
• Social Innovator – this category is open to not-for-profit organizations, not-for-profit social enterprises or registered charities that address social challenges in their communities and find innovative solutions to serve their communities

2. Understand the nomination criteria

The CVA nominations are assessed using the following key criteria, which you will need to describe in your nomination.

• Role – describe the nominee’s contributions
• Impact – describe how the nominee addressed a challenge in their community, how their efforts made a difference and how their efforts will be sustained
• Reach – describe who benefitted from the nominee’s efforts and what people gained from them
• Challenges – describe any challenges the nominee faced in order to make a difference in their community

If you are sending a nomination for the Thérèse Casgrain Lifelong Achievement, Business Leader or Social Innovator categories, you will also have to assess these two criteria:

• Engagement – describe how the nominee engaged with other individuals or groups to address a social issue
• Inspiration – describe how the nominee became a role model for others and for their community

3. Gather meaningful letters of support

To showcase your nominee’s contributions, between one and three letters of support need to be presented with your nomination. The letters should:

• be addressed to Canada’s Volunteer Awards
• not exceed two pages (about 1,000 words)
• be dated and have been written within the last 6 months
• support the nomination and come from someone who has direct knowledge of the nominee’s contributions
• contain the name and address of the author
• explain how the author knows the nominee

Are you ready to put in a CVA nomination? We are accepting nominations from across Canada.

If you know a business or social enterprise that deserves to receive an award, submit a nomination for them here . The deadline is April 26, 2023.

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