Summary

Over the weekend of March 1, 2025– March 3, 2025, teams of two will participate in a live competition in their registered category, modeled after the global Young Lions Competition in Cannes, France. A brief for a not-for-profit organization will be unveiled when the competition begins.

The Print, Digital, Media, Marketers, Design and PR entry submission runs from Saturday, March 1, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST to Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST.

The Film entry submission runs from Saturday, March 1, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST to Monday, March 3, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST.

The entry submission form will be live only during these periods. Late entries result in automatic disqualification – THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS.

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

Key Dates

• Monday, January 13, 2025 – Sunday, February 9, 2025, at 11:59pm EST: Registration is open for the 2025 Canadian Young Lions Competition
• Saturday, March 1, 2025 – Monday, March 3, 2025: Competition Weekend
• Pre-Competition Training Webinars offered:
  • Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST: Pre-competition training webinar for Media (for competitors)
  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST: Pre-competition training webinar for Marketers (for competitors)
  • Thursday, February 20, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST: Pre-competition training webinar for PR (for competitors)
  • Thursday, February 20, 2025, 2:00pm – 3:00pm EST: Pre-competition training webinar for Design (for competitors)
• Monday, March 10, 2025 – Sunday, March 23, 2025, at midnight: Judging period
• Live-Judging will occur in person at The Globe and Mail Centre (351 King St. East, Suite 1600, Toronto, ON, M5A 0N1). Travel will be provided if you live outside of the province. 4 categories have a live-judging component:
  • Monday, April 14, 2025, 2:00pm – 4:00pm: Live-Judging (Design)
  • Tuesday, April 15, 2025, 2:00pm – 4:00pm Live-Judging (Media)
  • Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 2:00pm – 4:00pm: Live-Judging (Marketers)
  • Thursday, April 17, 2025, 2:00pm – 4:00pm: Live-Judging (PR)
• Late April (date TBC): Winners are announced at the 2025 CMDC Media Summit in Toronto, Ontario.
• June 16, 2025 – June 20, 2025: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France
  Global Young Lions Competition takes place during the festival week at Cannes Lions

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 20, 2025.
• Be at least the legal age of majority in your province or territory, and not older than 30 years of age prior to June 20, 2025.
• 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 during the June 16 – June 20, 2025, Festival.

For the PR Category you must:

• Be professionals working for a PR agency or specific in-house PR departments in an agency
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition
• In-house PR teams from clients will be accepted to compete in this competition

For the Design Category you must:

• Be professionals working in a creative communications /advertising/ digital agency
• Freelancers will be accepted to compete in this competition
• In-house creative teams from client companies will be accepted to compete in this competition

For the Digital, Print & Film Categories you must:

• Be professionals employed by or working freelance for a creative communication, advertising, or digital agency.

For the Media Category you must:

• Be employed by or working freelance for: (A) a media agency; or (B) specific in-house media departments in agencies.

For the Marketers Category you must:

• Be working for client companies that engage the services of advertising or communications companies (i.e., Intel, Coca-Cola), or a digital agency. We do not accept advertising agencies to compete in the Young Marketers competition. Freelancers are not eligible to compete in the Marketing Category.

How to Enter

Make sure each member of your team has:

• Read and agreed to the 2025 Official Young Lions Competition Rules
• Completed and submitted a Registration Form (1 form per person)
• Paid a non-refundable Registration Fee (prices vary on when you registered)
• Submitted a competition entry that meets the requirements of the competition brief released on March 1, 2025.

For detailed requirements, please review the 2025 Official Young Lions Competition Rules – coming soon.

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 2025, at The Globe and Mail Centre (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. There is an automatic disqualification for teams that only have one team member present.

Prizing

In addition to being awarded Canada’s Young Lions for 2025 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.

The 2025 Young Lions competitions are hosted by The Globe and Mail, Official Festival Representative in Canada for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Please review the 2025 Official Young Lions Competition Rules(coming soon!) for a full breakdown of the rules and regulations. To the extent of any conflict between the above summary and the Official Rules, the Official Rules will prevail.