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The Women In Music Canada Honours Program

The Women in Music Canada Honours program celebrates and supports Women and Gender Diverse Canadian innovators and creators who have had outstanding success in their field in the eligibility year (December 2022 through December 2023 for annual based categories).

Submissions must be made through WIMCanada’s application form by the deadline (Monday, December 11, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET). Submissions may be made by the prospective honouree or another Canadian colleague. Only one submission is required to be considered. If multiple submissions are received for the same person, they will be combined to one submission for the jury review. The Honours recipients will be announced at a reception dinner and showcase program March 5, 2024 - International Women’s Day. Stay tuned for more details on the event and tickets. Women in Music Canada values diversity, equity and inclusion, and welcomes applications from innovators and creators from diverse backgrounds.

CATEGORIES

Artist of the Year presented by Amazon Music

Change Maker of the Year (Formerly Distinguished Leader) presented by National Arts Centre

Entrepreneur of the Year presented by Believe an TuneCore

Excellence in Live Music 

International Leader of the Year 

Organization of the Year

Career Achievement Honour  (Formerly Trailblazer) - 5 recipients

Women in Music Canada Rising Leader (Formerly Honour Roll) - 5 recipients

CLICK HERE for full category descriptions.

Nomination & Selection Process

Candidates from all areas of the music industry and all genres of music are welcome to apply. Eligible applications will be considered by a jury of professional Canadian music industry leaders and creators appointed by Women in Music Canada. Excellence demonstrated through Industry success and artistic merit will be an overriding consideration in the adjudication, in addition to thoughtful demonstration of how the Honour would help advance the applicant’s career. The jury committee reserves the right to categorize a submission at their sole discretion if they feel the applicant is more suited to a different Honour. All jury’s decisions are final.
Each submission will be screened upon completion to ensure that it is complete and meets all eligibility requirements. Any submissions that are incomplete or ineligible will be disqualified. 

Eligibility Criteria

Submissions can be made by the Industry professional or artist themselves or can be nominated on their behalf. All Honours submissions must be for a person who meets the eligibility criteria below, however the submitter does not need to meet these criteria. 
To be eligible to be considered, an applicant must:
  • Be a woman, or gender diverse individual;
  • Be a citizen, landed immigrant or legal resident of Canada, or be able to show proof of residence in Canada for at least 6 months in the eligibility time frame. The exception to this is the International Honour.
  • Submit a complete application with all required supporting materials by the deadline;
  • Not be a current board member or employee of Women In Music Canada; 
A group of individuals (such as a company, duo or a band) may apply for the Honours together as one applicant, but at least 50% of the individuals in the group must meet all eligibility criteria above for the group to be considered for the Honours. If selected as an Honours recipient, the group will receive ONE trophy and honourarium.

Minimum Number of Submissions

There must be a minimum of four (4) submissions for a category to proceed in any year. If four (4) submissions were not received for a particular category, that category is skipped for that year and nominees can resubmit their album the following year.

Prize Value

Each honouree will receive a physical trophy recognizing their accomplishments, and an honorarium supported by the sponsor of the category. 
All Honours recipients will also be promoted through various public sources recognizing their accomplishments. More details on this to come. 

Promotion

Women in Music Canada have the right (but not the obligation, as applicable) to:
  • Publish the names of the Awards finalists and recipients on Women In Music Canada and award partner websites, accounts on social media platforms and any other channels; and
  • Promote the Award recipients through various platforms and channels that are not within the control of either Organizer, including but not limited to social media platforms, all without any lability, compensation or obligation whatsoever to any applicant.
  • Cancel the Honours at any time without awarding any of the award prizes if unforeseen circumstances arise.

Residency Requirements

The mandate of Women in Music Canada is to support women and gender diverse artists and companies who reside in Canada a majority of the time and as such contribute to healthy and thriving music communities in the region. As such, all Honours nominees must be residents of Canada for at least six months between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023. 
  • For a group,  50% of group members must meet residency requirements. 
  • For a company, they must have registration in a Canadian province or national registration with an office / or key staff person (for remote offices) in Canada. 
  • For international companies, the Honour goes to the Canadian branch. 
  • Proof of residency may be requested.

Nomination & Submission Deadline

  • Submissions Open: 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 25 , 2023
  • Submissions Close: 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, December 11, 2023

Instructions for Submitting an Entry

    •  All complete submission to the awards will be reviewed by the jury. 
    •  Artists submitting must include links to at least two publicly released songs for adjudication.
    • There are no release date requirements for tracks submitted for artist consideration, however review of merit for artistic categories will focus on the year December 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023. 
    • All submissions are accepted online only. 
    • One submission must be completed for each category submitting to.
    • Read all guidelines and category requirements prior to submission to ensure eligibility.
    • Please complete submissions accurately and in full. Submitted information is what jurors consider when adjudicating final completed submissions.
    It is highly recommended that applications be submitted well before the deadline to ensure there are no unforeseen issues at the time of submission. Late applications due to technical issues within 24 hours of the deadline will not be considered acceptable grounds for late submission and may lead to your application not being considered for the current year.

Nomination & Submission in Successive Years

Submissions can be made for the same person or company in successive years, however an Honouree will not be recognized more than once in the same category.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I have to be a member of Women in Music Canada to submit to WIMC Honours?

No. It is recommended that nominees and those submitting be a national member or a member of a regional WIMC chapter but it is not required. 

2. How are the jurors selected?

  • Anyone may show interest in becomming a juror through the jury intake form on this site. Completing the application / expression of interest does not guarentee you will be selected as a juror as the selection will consider many factors such as (bt not limited to) fit with categories, avoidance of potental conflict, diversity of jurors in every category.
  • The Women In Music Canada Honours jury will consist of a diverse group of invested music community members who are void of conflicts in the process and knowledgeable of the Canadian music industry.
  • Women In Music Canada staff members are not allowed to sit as jurors or to influence the decisions of the juries.
  • The results from the jury will be reviewed by the WIMC Board Honours Committee to elect final recipients with consideration of all jury results and may consider also ensuring a diverse mix of recipients to represent the successes in the given year. 

3. Why are there not more award categories?

The categories launched are the total eligible for 2024. If you want to propose a new category or area of artistry/industry that is not represented, please send a brief proposal to robyn@womeninmusic.ca for consideration for subsequent years.

If you have any questions that are not answered above, please contact robyn@womeninmusic.ca.