Summary

Over the weekend of March 4 – March 6, teams of two will participate in a live competition in their registered category, modelled after the global competitions in Cannes. A brief for a not-for-profit organization will be unveiled when the competition begins.

The Print, Digital, Media and Marketers entry submission runs from Saturday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. EST to Sunday, March 5 at 9:00 a.m. EST.

The Film entry submission runs from Saturday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. EST to Monday, March 6 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

• December 19, 2022: Early-bird registration is open for the 2023 Canadian Young Lions competition
• January 9 – February 17, 2023: Regular priced registration is open for the 2023 Canadian Young Lions competition
• February 21, 2023, from 1:00pm-2:30pm ET: Competition Training Webinar for Marketers (register here)
• February 22, 2023, from 1:00pm-2:30pm ET: Competition Training Webinar for Media (register here)
• March 4 – March 6, 2023: Competition dates
• Week of April 10, 2023: Virtual live judging for shortlisted Young Lions Media competition (exact date TBC)
• April 11, 2023, 12-2pm EST: Virtual live judging for shortlisted Young Lions Media competition
• April 11, 2023, 2:45-4:45pm: Virtual live judging for shortlisted Young Lions Marketers competition
• April 26, 2023: Winners are announced at the CMDC 2023 Summit in Toronto
• June 19 – June 23, 2023: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France
• June 19 – June 23, 2023: Global Young Lions Competition taking place during the festival week at Cannes Lions

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter, you must:

• be Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada at the time of entry, or have a valid Canadian work permit throughout the competition starting from your registration up until June 23, 2023;
• be at least the legal age of majority in your province or territory, and not older than 30 years of age prior to June 23, 2023;
• 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 19 – June 23, 2023 timeframe;

For the Digital, Print & Film Categories you must:

• be professionals employed by or working freelance for a creative communications, 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 2023 Official Young Lions Competition Rules
• Completed and submitted a Registration Form
• Paid a non-refundable CAD$100 (pretax) Registration Fee
• Submitted a competition entry that meets the requirements of the competition brief released on March 4. 2023

For detailed requirements, please review the 2023 Official Young Lions Competition Rules.

Judging

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

For Media categories only, up to 5 shortlisted teams per category will be invited to present their submission in a virtual live judging round during the week of April 10, 2023. Each member of the shortlisted team must attend the virtual meeting to present their submission. There is an automatic disqualification for teams that only have one team member present.

For Marketers categories only, up to 5 shortlisted teams per category will be invited to present their submission in a virtual live judging during the week of April 10, 2023. Each member of the shortlisted team must attend the virtual meeting 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 2023 and representing Canada at Cannes Lions, 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.