2021 IABC Canada Silver Leaf Award Winners Announced
October 22, 2021
Professional Excellence Recognized by the International Association of Business Communicators Canada
Communications professionals have helped navigate – through the power of communication – the global pandemic. As an integral part of the organization, communications professionals rose to the challenge and shone over the past 19 months. This came through in the calibre of Silver Leaf Award entries received this year from organizations of all sizes and types across Canada.
We’re proud to announce the 2021 Silver Leaf Award winners, recognizing outstanding professional communications. Of the 157 entries submitted, 57 are being honoured with a Silver Leaf Award this year – 26 with an Award of Excellence and 31 an Award of Merit. Winners span over twenty categories, including brand communications, internal communications, government relations, special events, and two new categories: diversity and inclusion, and COVID-19 response & recovery management and communication.
“Year after year, Silver Leaf winners continue to impress us with their creativity, rigorous work and achievements,” says Angela Wilson, National Programs Director, IABC Canada West Region. “I’d like to offer a well-earned congratulations to all the winners.”
“Silver Leaf winners represent the evolution of Canada’s business communications industry as our strategic roles and impact have grown at an incredible pace,” says Dave Sumner, National Programs Director, IABC Canada East Region. “The comments from our evaluators confirm that communications professionals across the country have stepped up their game to deliver outstanding responses to a number of significant business challenges.”
IABC recognizes excellence in organizational communications at the international, national and chapter levels. Canada’s national Silver Leaf Awards program has over 50 categories for entries and is managed jointly by the Canada East and Canada West Regions.
For more information:
Dave Sumner – IABC Canada East Region
Angela Wilson – IABC Canada West Region
iabcsilverleaf@gmail.com
Congratulations to the 2021 Silver Leaf Award Winners!
Category 2: Internal Communication Measurement |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| 2020 Renaissance magazine readership study | RTOERO – Sylvia Link MC APR, ABC, Stefanie Martin CMP, Kayla McKenzie, Danielle Norris; Research and Evaluation Consulting, Inc. – Sidiq Ali | RTOERO | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 7: Internal Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| ATB ID | Austin Havens & Calvin Seaman | ATB Financial | St. Albert, AB | Edmonton |
| Create & Communicate Workshop | Stefanie Martin, Sylvia Link, Danielle Norris, Kayla McKenzie | RTOERO | Burlington, ON | Toronto |
| The future of digital banking: ATB Personal Banking app | Melissa Corns, Nekolina Lau, SCMP, Rizalyn (Reese) Reyes | ATB Financial | Calgary, AB | Calgary |
Category 8: Employee Engagement |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Bayer Crop Science Canada Moves Mountains to Increase Employee Engagement | Ginger Rozmus, Komie Hossini, Courtney Kindrat, Al Driver | Bayer Inc. | Calgary, AB | Calgary |
Category 10: Safety Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Asbestos kills. It’s best to test. | Kim Blanchette, Hilary Friesen, Dan Tisch, Bonnie Monteith, Jenna Boychuk, Whitney Siemens, Christian Massaroni, Brendan Crosby, Dani Boily, Denise Maitan, Koen Reynaert | Argyle & LMIC | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 13: Government Relations |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Campaign for Local Journalism | Mirko Petricevic, Chuck Howitt, Carolyn McCleod-McCarthy and others | ink-stainedwretches.org | Waterloo, ON | Waterloo |
| Save Eye Care | Kim Blanchette, Daniel Tisch, Roanne Argyle, Kyla Best, Patrick Thoburn, Whitney Siemens, Brendan Crosby, Terri McBay, Louis Payette, Amy Gingerich, Justin Brown, Doug Derabbie, Dr. Sheldon Salaba, Brittany Blow, Emily Wright | Argyle & OAO | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| The Museum of Outdated Technology | Tracey Bochner | Insurance Bureau of Canada, Paradigm | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 15: Media Relations |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Planet Fitness: United We Move | Cole Douglas | APEX PR and Planet Fitness | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 17: Advertising Campaigns |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Alectra Utilities 2020 Paperless Ebilling Campaign | Blair Peberdy, Chris Wray, John Friesen, Lori Gariepy, Lee Dapp, Daloris Grohman, Amber Azarcon, Rachel Bertone | Alectra Utilities Corporation | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| RTOERO 2019 Advertising Program | Sylvia Link MC ABC APR, Danielle Norris SCMP, Stefanie Martin CMP, Kayla McKenzie – RTOERO Camille Poulin, Jeanne Kerouac – Camden Advertising | RTOERO and Camden Advertising | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 18: Marketing Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| AXE Project Wild | Nora Hickey, Hira Gomes, Jordan Markowski, Victoria Neufeld, Karandeep Sandhu, Andrew Simon, Matt Smith, Tamara Sulliman, Scott Tavener, and Jennifer Zies. (Operating as part of an IAT: Mindshare & U-Studio). | Unilever with Edelman Canada | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Ivey’s New Accelerated MBA Program Launch | Adele Huffman, Ron Gallagher, Olivia D’Onofrio, Ivan Langrish, Dawn Milne, Lauren Bak, Gabe Ramos, Chris Hansen | Ivey Business School at Western University | London, ON | London |
Category 22: Issues Management and Crisis Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Engaging young adults as volunteer health influencers to improve uptake of COVID-19 safety | Larisa Saunders | Fraser Health | Surrey, BC | BC |
Category 22B: COVID-19 Response & Recovery Management and Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Continuity of Essential Health Services during COVID-19 Pandemic | Laura Goncalves, Michele Martin | London Health Sciences Centre | London, ON | London |
| Engaging young adults as volunteer health influencers to improve uptake of COVID-19 safety | Larisa Saunders | Fraser Health | Surrey, BC | BC |
| GoodLife @ Home & The GoodLife Standard | GoodLife: Dayna Ashame, Lauren Avery, Jacob Dearlove, Holly Dunn, Jonathan Fagg, Eric Flockhart, Richelle Lowry, Krista Maling, Adam Roberts, Skye Nicholson-Smith; Edelman: Nora Hickey, Leilah Ambrose, Sarah Attia, Thomas Blackmore, Riannon John, Victoria Jordan, Billy Korekiyo, James Lachno, Peter McIntyre, Caroline Murphy, Sophie Nadeau, Lindsay Page, Alexis Redmond, Meg Robertson, Josh Sam, Jenn Sintime, Matthew Smith, Tamara Sulliman, Greg Vanier, Maggie Waymark, Carly Wiseman, Jeremy Wittet | Edelman Canada & GoodLife | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Mississauga’s COVID-19 Response – Keeping the City Safe with Collaborative, Credible, Consistent, Citizen-Focused Communication | Irene McCutcheon | City of Mississauga | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Planet Fitness: United We Move | Cole Douglas | Apex Public Relations | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| U of T Engineering COVID-19 Response, Recovery & Retention | Marit Mitchell, Shilpa Gantotti, Adrian So, Tyler Irving, Fahad Pinto, Roberta Baker, Liz Do, Daria Perevezentsev, Tristan McGuirk | University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Engineering Strategic Communications | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Better Together – Communicating to build culture during a pandemic | Nicole Monaco, Sean Penn, Jessica Loughlin, Jovana Pavic, Ruth Wiart, Jaylene Hollohan | Chandos Construction | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
Category 23: Government Communication Programs |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| COVID Heroes Recognition Program | Irene McCutcheon, Ivana Di Millo | City of Mississauga | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Federal Indian Day School Class Action | Kim Blanchette, Hailey MacKinnon, Jessie Sitnik, Daniel Tisch, Whitney Siemens, Brendan Crosby, Koen Reynart, Daren Wowchuk, Christian Kent, Denise Maitan, Benjamin Walters | Argyle and Government of Canada | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Protect Your Pipes! F.O.G. Clogs Campaign | Holena Newton, Michael Freethy, Danielle Thom | City of Markham | Markham, ON | Toronto |
| Ready? Set… Go! with Recreation Online | Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham, Sue Hutton, Karen Tomnuk, Michelle Johnson, Allison Reynolds, Shalyn Werstiuk, Carolyn Vankleek | Strathcona County | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| ReDirect Awareness Campaign | Corwin Odland, Ryan Cordes (Graphic Designer), Suzanne Beda (Video Producer) and Justin Keller (Web Designer) | Calgary Police Service | Calgary, AB | Calgary |
Category 24: Non-profit Campaigns |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| The Kitchen Memories Project | Kim Blanchette, Caroline De Silva, Daniel Tisch, Stephanie Lascia, Marlee Socket, Whitney Siemens, Christian Kent | Argyle and Lighthouse | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| The Toker 2.0 | Kaitlyn Allen, Peter Glazier, Rose Phillip, Peter Schreier – Lung Health Foundation. Nora Hickey, Leilah Ambrose, Jason Barg, Nirmala Bahall, Fabricio Bedoya, Cara Collins, Jennifer Cook, Oksana Davydenko, Lisa Flynn, Magdalena Gizicki, Hira Gomes, Dominika Grzesik, Lucy Hopkins, Meriem Idrissi Kaitouni, Leah Jenkins, Traci Klassen, Amanda Lazarovitz, Natalie Legault, Jordan Markowski, Caroline Murphy, Lauren Neate, Alannah Nugent, Mandip Rai, Jessica Schwartz, Ava Shafman, Andrew Simon, Harmeet Singh, Tamara Sulliman, Scott Tavener, Corina Thibeault, Joanna Wilson – Edelman | Lung Health Foundation with Edelman | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| How LitFest grew its sales and audiences through digital content strategy | Fawnda Mithrush, Sheri Doyle, Elka Eisenzimmer, Cory Sellar, Jaime Pruden, Terese Brasen | LitFest Alberta | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| How much do they make? A revealing look at Canada’s labour market | Kim Blanchette, Hailey MacKinnon, Joanne Pitkin, Daniel Tisch, Megan Schumacher, Claire Droniuk, Jan Mazereeuw, Nadine Purdy, Janik Bastide, Steven Tobin | Argyle & LMIC | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Stand By Me: A Campaign for Children’s Hospital | Rebecca Milec, Miranda Scotland, Megan Vandekerckhove | Children’s Health Foundation | London, ON | London |
Category 25: Brand Communication |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Tahltan Central Government Brand Identity – a beacon to future generations | Gordon Infanti & Rod Roodenburg | Tahltan Central Government / Roodenberg Design Consultants | Dease Lake, BC | BC |
Category 27: Social Media Programs |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Husqvarna Canada Automower Texting Video Series | ruckus Digital: Linda Andross, Jennifer Stein, Elspeth Baird, Amanda Carreiro, Vanessa Curtas Husqvarna: Michelle Sordi, Ke Xu | Husqvarna / ruckus Digital | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 30: Diversity and Inclusion |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Dove Hair presents: The D Cut | Nora Hickey, Leilah Ambrose, Sarah Botros, Leah Jenkins, Traci Klassen, Maggie Waymark, Sofiya Yusypovych, Jennifer Zies as well as representatives from Unilever Entertainment, Shaftesbury, and Mindshare. | Unilever with Edelman Canada | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 31: Internal Communication Training |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Create & Communicate Workshop | Stefanie Martin, Sylvia Link, Danielle Norris, Kayla McKenzie | RTOERO | Burlington, ON | Toronto |
Category 36: Digital Communication Vehicles |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Rural Health Beat | Jonathan Koch, Lorena Franchuk, Tana Findlay, Bernard C. Anderson, Bobby Jones, Rebekah Seidel, Alicia Fox, RhPAP freelance contributors including Lesley Allan, Britton Ledingham, David Olinger, Meagan Williams | Rural Health Professions Action Plan | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Liaison Enewsletter | Stefanie Martin, Sylvia Link, Danielle Norris, Kayla McKenzie, Ruel Navia | RTOERO | Burlington, ON | Toronto |
Category 37: Digital Communication Channels |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Protect Our Elders | Shani Gwin, Robyn Ferguson, Shawna Kay Thomas, Rolando Inzunza, Jill McKenzie, Cole Buhler, Stephanie Joe, Desiree Labelle, Fafali Mawutor, Allison Duck Chief, Emma DeCoteau, Melaina Goos, Cameron Bunney | pipikwan pêhtâkwan | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| Shining a light on the new Intranet – theBeacon | Adele Ward, Teri Buckley | connectFirst Credit Union | Calgary, AB | Calgary |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Back to Skule 2020 | Marit Mitchell, Fahad Martin Pinto; Liz Do; Roberta Baker | University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Children’s Health Foundation Website Redesign | Megan Vandekerckhove | Children’s Health Foundation | London, ON | London |
Category 38: Audio Visual |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| CCCA – The Humble Box Series | Chris Torbay, TORBAY; Angle Media Group; Digital Media Company; Allen Kirkpatrick, CCCA; Lauren Joakim, Smithcom; Gabrielle Poirier, Smithcom | Smithcom | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| Markham facilities reopen during COVID-19 | Michael Blackburn, Andrea Berry, Cyrus Mavalwala & Ernesta Rossi | City of Markham & Advantis Communications | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
| The Not So Distant Future | Moh Elshamy, Matthew Gresiuk, Scott Winder, Jordan Bloemen, Nancy Biamonte, Matthias Smale, Jeff Khounthavong | Sticks & Stones | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| A Century Well Built | Moh Elshamy, Matthew Gresiuk, Scott Winder, Jordan Bloemen, Nancy Biamonte, Matthias Smale, Jeff Khounthavong | Sticks & Stones | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| Cheyenne’s Story | Julia Oosterman | Bluewater Health | Sarnia, ON | London |
Category 39: Publications |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Building on a Promise – Concert Properties at 30 Years | John Corry, Jennifer Wah, Brandon Brind | Concert Properties | Vancouver, BC | BC |
| Innovation Village Case for Support | Gillian Sneddon, Elaine Gamble, Courtney Ecker, Megan Zinn, Brad Kerr, Brandy Huxley, Andrea Ayala | Fanshawe College | London, ON | London |
Category 40: Publication Design |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Flagstaff County Crafted Gift Guide | Kara Paul | zag | Edmonton, AB | Edmonton |
| Renaissance magazine redesign | Sylvia Link, Danielle Norris SCMP, Stefanie Martin CMP, Kayla McKenzie | RTOERO and Hambly & Woolley | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 41: Other Graphic Design |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Merit | ||||
| Faculty of Arts & Science Digital Holiday Card and Video | Melissa Hill | Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 42: Special Events – Internal |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| 2020 President’s Breakfast | Megan Zinn, Dave Schwartz, Elaine Gamble, Kathy Nahwegahbow, Julia Westelaken, Joanna Dales, Brandy Huxley, Cory Downing | Fanshawe College | London, ON | London |
| Coastal Community’s Spark Summit | Olivia Lyle | Coastal Community Credit Union | Nanaimo, BC | BC |
| Connecting with our new brand – connectFirst Brand Launch | Erin Dalton, Teri Buckley | connectFirst Credit Union | Calgary, AB | Calgary |
Category 43: Special Events – External |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Mocktail Week | Kim Blanchette, Laura Ellis, Mariah Baldwin, Whitney Siemens, Dani Boily, Dan Tisch, Vini Machado, Christian Kent, Dylan Bekkering, Sean Snowden | Argyle & MBLL | Toronto, ON | Toronto |
Category 47: Writing |
||||
| Application Name | Winner | Organization | City | Chapter |
| Awards of Excellence | ||||
| Building on a Promise – Concert Properties at 40 Years | Jennifer Wah, John Corry, Brandon Brind | Forwards Communication Inc. | North Vancouver, BC | BC |
For any changes, please contact iabcsilverleaf@gmail.com.