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Congratulations 2021 Canadian Core Values Award Winners!

Each year, IAP2 Canada presents the Core Values Awards, honouring the “best of the best” in public engagement. Learn more about the Core Values Awards here.

Watch the 2021 IAP2 North American Core Values Awards Virtual Celebration here.

National Award winner: Organization of the Year

Engage Manitoba

EngageMB grew out of a determination to transform the way the government connected with the public. In process since 2018, the strategy included a strong commitment to make Manitobans’ insights and knowledge the centre of decision-making. An advisory team developed a consistent set of standards, tools and technology, using the IAP2 Core Values and Spectrum of Public Participation, for the civil service to follow. A website set up to allow Manitobans to provide their input on policy decisions proved particularly successful, with 150,000 people -- nearly 10% of the province’s population -- registering to use it. Even during the pandemic in 2020, the level of engagement increased 470% over the year before. Read the press release here.

What the judges said:

"Public opinion research conducted in December 2020, found that 43% of Manitobans had taken part in an engagement activity with the Manitoba government in the last year. Of the 43% of people who participated 6 in 10 had taken part in multiple engagement activities."

Project of the Year & Award for Indigenous Engagement

ARGYLE - Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation Engagement Program

In the 1960s, thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in the care of non-Indigenous families. In 2018, a court-approved settlement included $50-million to set up the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation (SSHF) for Survivors. In order to determine the Foundation’s governance, direction and mandate, Argyle developed a culturally safe and trauma-informed process to earn the trust of the Survivors and engage them in developing recommendations. Through in-person and online engagement, the voices of nearly a thousand Survivors were captured, analyzed and incorporated into the report to the Interim Board. Read the press release here.

What the judges said:

“Recognition of the trauma experienced by participants was a key aspect as Survivors were at different stages in their healing journeys and the approach would need to be responsive. Establishing environments that enabled Survivors to participate meaningfully and comfortably. The work with local Elders to ensure respect of local protocols and connecting individuals to local mental health and healers to ensure Survivors could build connections with supports within their communities after the session was incredible.”

Award for Extending the Practice through Creativity, Contribution and Innovation in the Field

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA - Students’ Dialogue Democratic Engagement

UVic students and faculty set out to learn how to create more meaningful engagement practices that are truly inclusive, eventually leading to students becoming more engaged and informed citizens. The process used “mini-publics”, virtual forums and a civic lottery to bring together as many points of view as possible. Read the press release here.

What the judges said:

"The communication support to participants engendered trust; … The limited scope and number of participants allowed for more direct and frequent communication. Stronger connections were also promoted between students."

HONORABLE MENTION

City of Calgary: Beltline, Inglewood and Ramsay Social and Recreational Needs

Read the submission and the press release.

Award for Diversity and Inclusion

VANCOUVER COASTAL HEATH: Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Translation Engagement  

The project, "VCH Translation Engagement”, addresses the challenge of having an inconsistent language-interpretation system in a region in which approximately a third of the population do not have English as their mother tongue. Being hampered in communicating about their health-care needs creates literally a life-or-death situation. Being hampered in communicating about their health-care needs creates literally a life-or-death situation. VCH initiated a review of translation practices with the goal of supporting culturally safe care and improving access to health information. With the engagement of patients, families, the general public, organizations providing services to newcomers with limited English fluency and staff experiencing language barriers, VCH sought to learn how to reduce language barriers and how to facilitate better understanding and distribution of written materials. Read the press release here.

What the judges said:

“This project faced multiple challenges (language barriers, COVID 19) and was well designed to meet its objectives. It also explicitly references how feedback from the pre-engagement interviews resulted in changes to the program.”

HONORABLE MENTION

FKA & Kickstand: Alberta Integrated Youth Services Initiative (AB-IYSI)

Read the submission and the press release.

Award for Research Project of the Year

Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue - Beyond Inclusion: Equity in Public Engagement

The bilingual Beyond Inclusion: Equity in Public Engagement Guide for practitioners grew out of a research paper produced for IAP2 Canada on ways organizations are achieving more inclusive engagement practices. The research team continued its work with a participatory research and consultation process involving community members, engagement practitioners, and representatives from governments and civil society. While inclusion was the initial theme, participants emphasized the importance of equity—building reciprocal relationships and sharing power with communities to co-create accessible and meaningful engagement processes. Read the press release here.


Our 2021 judges


Susanna Haas Lyons

Susanna is a civic engagement specialist, who designs participation strategies, facilitates complex meetings and provides training for better conversations between the public and decision makers.

(susannahaaslyons.com)




Mireille Brosseau

Mireille dedicates her professional life to strengthening connections between those who experience, organize and provide healthcare services so that collective efforts improve who we are, what we do and how we progress on our health improvement journeys.



Anne Harding

Anne is a former president of IAP2 Canada, recipient of the 2015 Core Values Award for P2 for the Greater Good and a Certified Public Participation Professional (CP3). Her specialties include the energy industry and Indigenous engagement.



Jane Newlands

Jane is a Senior Vice President at Argyle, one of Canada’s largest engagement and communication firms, with full-time employees in seven Canadian cities. At Argyle, she leads a national team of engagement specialists with the belief that meaningful engagement is grounded in inclusivity, values and respectful dialogue.



  • Belinda Boyd


  • Belinda is Leader, Community Engagement, at Vancouver (BC) Coastal Health, specializing in Patient Public Engagement (PPE), ensuring a voice for people most affected by changes or decisions.

    VCH has received numerous Core Values Awards on Belinda's watch: Organization of the Year (2006), Creativity and Innovation, and Project of the Year (2014), and P2 for the Greater Good (2016). 


    • Core Values Awards Around the World

    Check out Core Values Award winners from around the world, in the IAP2 Federation's Core Values Awards Showcases. Read about winners going back to 2007, and learn some of the techniques they've used to ensure proper engagement!

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