Summary

Teams of two are given 24 hours* to flip a brief for a chosen non-profit. *Film Category competitors are given 48 hours to complete their brief.

Modeled after the global Young Lions Competition in Cannes, France, a brief for a not-for-profit will be unveiled when the competition begins.

The Print, Digital, Media, Marketers, Design and PR entry submission runs from Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. EST to Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. EST.

The Film entry submission runs from Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. EST to Monday, March 2, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. EST.

The entry submission forms will be live only during these periods. Late entries result in automatic disqualifications.

TIP: Make sure you budget enough time to complete the submission form which can take some time, especially in the case of large files.

Key Dates

Registration is open for the 2026 Canadian Young Lions Competition:

• Monday, January 12, 2026 – Sunday, February 8, 2026, at 11:59pm EST

Competition Weekend:

Marketers, Media, Digital, PR, Design, Print Competition Categories (24 hours):

• Saturday, February 28, 2026, 9:00am EST – Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 9:00am EST

Film Competition Category (48 hours):

• Saturday, February 28, 2026, 9:00am EST – Monday, March 2, 2026, at 9:00am EST

TIP: Make sure you budget enough time to complete the submission form which can take some time, especially in the case of large files.

Pre-Competition Training Webinars offered for *5 categories:

*Film and Print do not have pre-competition training webinars.

Marketers Webinar

• Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026
• Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST

Media Webinar

• Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
• Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST

PR Webinar

• Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
• Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Design Webinar

• Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026
• Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Digital Webinar

• Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026
• Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm

Judging Period to Select Shortlists:

• Wednesday, March 4, 2026 – Sunday, March 22, 2026, at 11:59pm EST

Live In-Person Judging for *5 Categories:

*Film and Print do not have live in-person judging.

Address: The Globe and Mail, 351 King St. East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON M5A 0N1

• Travel will be provided if you live outside of the province.
• Each member of the shortlisted team must attend the live judging session to present their submission.

Digital Live In-Person Judging

• Date: Monday, April 13, 2026
• Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Marketers Live In-Person Judging

• Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2026
• Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Media Live In-Person Judging

• Date: Monday, April 13, 2026
• Time: 9:00am -12:00pm

PR Live In-Person Judging

• Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2026
• Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Design Live In-Person Judging

• Date: Thursday, April 16, 2026
• Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Young Lions Winners Announcement Event: All Categories

Address: The Globe and Mail, 351 King St. East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON M5A 0N1

• Travel will be provided if you live outside of the province.
• Date: Friday, April 24, 2026
• Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Gold Winners Cannes Bootcamp & Pre-Cannes Cocktail Party

Address: The Globe and Mail, 351 King St. East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON M5A 0N1

• Travel will be provided if you live outside of the province.
• Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2026
• Times:
  • Bootcamp: 11:30am – 3:00pm
  • Cocktail Party: 5:30pm – 8:30pm (address to be provided)

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

Gold winners from the Canadian competition will be sent to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to compete in the global Young Lions Competitions.

• Date: June 22, 2026 – June 26, 2026
• Location: Cannes, France

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter, you must:

• Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada at the time of entry or have a valid Canadian work permit throughout the competition starting from your registration up until June 26, 2026.
• Be at least the legal age of majority in their province or territory aged 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Be able to submit your entry in English.
• Be available to participate in the Global Young Lions Competition during the Cannes Lions. International Festival of Creativity from June 22 – June 26, 2026.

Design:

To be eligible to compete in the Design competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working in creative communications /advertising/ digital agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house creative teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition.

Digital:

To be eligible to compete in the Digital competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working in creative communications /advertising / digital agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house creative teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition.

Marketers:

To be eligible to compete in the Marketers competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working for client companies that engage the services of advertising and communications companies (i.e. Intel, Coca-Cola).
• We do not accept advertising agencies to compete in the Young Marketers competition.
• Freelancers are not eligible to compete in Young Marketers.

Media:

To be eligible to compete in the Media competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working for media agencies or specific in-house media departments in agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house media teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition.

PR:

To be eligible to compete in the PR competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working for PR agencies or specific in-house PR departments in agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house PR teams from clients will be accepted to compete in this competition.

Print:

To be eligible to compete in the Print competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working in creative communications /advertising / digital agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house creative teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition.

Film:

To be eligible to compete in the Film competition the team must be:

• Made up of two young professionals.
• Age 30 or under, born on or after June 26, 1995.
• Working in creative communications /advertising / digital agencies.
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition.
• In-house creative teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition.

How to Enter

Make sure each member of your team has:

• Read and agreed to the 2026 Official Young Lions Competition Rules
• Completed and submitted a Registration Form (1 form per person)
• Paid a non-refundable Registration Fee
• Submitted a competition entry that meets the requirements of the competition brief released on February 28, 2026.

For detailed requirements, please review the 2026 Official Young Lions Competition Rules.

Judging

Submissions will be reviewed by this year’s panel of judges.

For the Media, Marketers, Design and PR Categories, up to 5 shortlisted teams per category will be invited to present their submission in an in-person live judging session in April 2026, at The Globe and Mail (351 King St. E. Suite 1600, Toronto, ON, M5A 0N1).

Each member of the shortlisted team must attend the live judging session to present their submission.

Prizing

In addition to being awarded Canada’s Young Lions for 2026 and representing Canada at the Cannes Lions Festival, each winning team receives:

• Registration to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France.
• Two (2) full-week registration passes to attend the Festival.
• Round-trip economy airfare and return airport transfers to Nice, France.
• Accommodation in a single occupancy room in Cannes, France for the duration of the Festival.
• In the event the Festival in Cannes, France is canceled and/or travel restrictions are in place preventing travel to Cannes, France, each winning team member will receive in place of attending the Festival a prize of $5,000.00 cash per winning team. For the avoidance of doubt each winning team member will receive $2,500.00 cash.