NOMINATION GUIDELINES & CRITERIA

The Excellence in Governance Awards nominations process as been simplified to make it more practical and user-friendly.

Eligibility:

Past winners are subject to a one-year cooling-off period for the category they won. However, they are encouraged to submit up to three nominations in other categories.

How to nominate?

Create an account and log in to www.excellenceingovernanceawards.org

Nominate yourself, your team or your peer(s)

Individuals and teams wishing to nominate themselves or their peer’s must answer the following 8 questions to a maximum of 250 words per question. Submissions should be limited to innovation or continuous improvement in one nomination area that has been implemented within the last 18 months. Each organization may submit a maximum of three nominations in all categories, combined. The responses should include why the organization / individual / program is unique and what makes it “the best.” This should include a narrative of not only what was done, but also “how” and “why.”

If you are submitting a nomination for Governance Professional of the Year or Peter Dey Achievement Award, your submission must include 750-words Executive Summary instead of the above sets of questions.

Award Categories & Criteria

The following categories will be accepting nominations for 2025.   Nominations will be accepted for an individual or an organization. Each organization is limited to 3 nominations per year and if you are past EGA winner in the pervious year you will be subject to a 1 year cool off period for that category. Past award winners are still permitted and encouraged to submit (up to a maximum of three nominations) in all other categories.

Excellence in Governance Award Categories

  1. Engagement
  2. Sustainability, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)/ Purpose
  3. Board/Director Effectiveness
  4. Strategy / Risk Management
  5. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
  6. Organizational Governance
  7. Governance Professional of the Year
  8. Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award
Nominations may be made for any innovative practice or process that falls within any of the nomination areas set out below. Within each of the categories are several examples of possible specific areas on which organizations may wish to focus their nomination. The examples are not exhaustive, and nominees are encouraged to submit any practice or innovation they feel enhances the governance of their organization. Please check all that apply to the submission and if not in the list, please add under ‘Other’.

Multiple Submissions:
Organizations applying in multiple categories must submit a separate application for each. A submission guide is provided in the annex below.

Nomination Focus:
Each submission should highlight a single innovation or continuous improvement initiative implemented within the past 18 months within the organizations governance office.

Nomination Requirements:
Each nominee must respond to the following questions (max 250 words per question), detailing the initiative and the Governance Professional’s role in improving the organization’s processes or effectiveness.

Supporting Materials:
Optional supporting documents (maximum two pages) may include a project overview, implementation timeline, progress to date, and key success factors.

Applications open from April 1st to May 30th.
Shortlisted organizations will be announced via press release in July 2025. 

1. Engagement

  • Shareholder engagement
  • Shareholder activism
  • Rightsholder engagement
  • Innovative mediums for communication
  • Interactive communications
  • Public disclosure
  • Board role in oversight of stakeholder relations
  • Board role in communicating with, and engaging, stakeholders/rightsholders
  • Reporting on stakeholder value creation
  • Stakeholder representatives on the board
  • Corporate activism; board role in corporate position statements
  • Board’s role addressing stakeholder conflicts and trade-offs
  • Other

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2. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) / Sustainability / Purpose

*Note ESG and Sustainability are used interchangeably.
  • Board Sustainability / ESG oversight practices
  • Board adoption and oversight of corporate purpose
  • ESG auditing and reporting
  • Committee ESG / purpose roles
  • ESG / purpose in executive incentive plans and performance objectives
  • ESG / purpose in succession planning and recruitment
  • ESG / purpose in corporate strategy
  • ESG / purpose in risk management
  • Board ESG / purpose education, competencies, assessments, and recruitment
  • ESG / purpose in governance manuals and procedures

3. Board / Director Effectiveness

  • Agenda development
  • Individual director requirements
  • Director skills and talents
  • Director recruitment
  • Director evaluation
  • Director Onboarding
  • Board succession
  • Board duties and division of responsibilities with committees
  • Board evaluation
  • Board orientation
  • Board education
  • Board materials and presentations
  • Board member terms
  • Time management for meetings
  • Removing directors from the board

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4. Strategy / Risk Management

  • Strategic oversight by board
  • Strategic planning processes or practices
  • How strategy is integrated into regular meetings
  • Strategic planning session (format or content)
  • Value creation by the board
  • Purpose-ESG-Strategy connection
  • Strategy-risk connection
  • Strategy – compensation connection
  • Defining critical success factors
  • Succession planning strategies
  • Compensation Risk
  • ESG (environmental, social, governance) Risk
  • Climate Change Risk
  • Oversight of enterprise risk management
  • Enterprise Risk Management Systems
  • Cyber Risk Governance
  • Reporting risk to the Board and Committees
  • Crisis management

5. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

  • Board diversity
  • Board oversight of DEI
  • Defining diversity
  • Measuring diversity
  • Inclusion in the boardroom
  • Setting and communicating goals
  • Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • Addressing equity and inclusion
  • Workforce diversity, equity and/or inclusion
  • Board renewal in light of DEI
  • Other

6. Organizational Governance

  • Developing by-laws
  • Mandates
  • Terms of reference
  • Position descriptions
  • Roadmaps
  • Calendars
  • Constitution review
  • Corporate governance practices
  • Defining members (in member-based organizations)
  • Integrated governance systems
  • Insider trading policies, procedures and practices
  • Ethics policies and programs
  • Whistleblower protections
  • Clawback policies
  • Subsidiary governance practices
  • Delegations of authority
  • Records management
  • Internal policy development, ownership and approvals
  • Teamwork between Governance Office and other departments
  • Defining roles and compensation in the Governance Office
  • Other

7. Governance Professional of the Year

This award category is open to individuals who currently work or formerly worked in the role of governance professional (corporate secretary, assistant corporate secretary, de facto corporate secretary or member of the governance office or corporate secretariat team, etc.) who have shown outstanding leadership and/or innovation in one or more aspects of governance.

This award recognizes outstanding and ongoing achievement in the realm of corporate governance practice within and beyond their organization. Nominations for this award should provide details on the achievements of the individual in governance matters and also demonstrate the innovations and leadership which make him or her stand apart and deserve this unique recognition. Special consideration will be given to individuals who have contributed to the improvement of their own organization’s governance on a continuous basis, who have provided mentorship to those they impact within their own organization and/or in the profession as a whole, and who have shown leadership in carving out or pursuing new and innovative processes in governance.

This award is meant to recognize the outstanding contributions by an individual to the role of the governance professional and the practice of corporate governance in Canada.

Please follow the guidelines on length of submission and use of attachments set out in the nomination process for the Excellence in Governance awards.

8. Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award

Considered to be the “Godfather of Canadian governance,” Peter Dey was an inspiration for the inception of GPC. It formed around the time that the 1994 Dey Report was issued, in order to respond to a growing demand from governance professionals for a forum of like-minded individuals. 
This award recognizes outstanding and widely impactful achievement in the realm of corporate governance. This person need not be a GPC member or a corporate secretary; rather, it is someone who has, over their career, significantly impacted the way organizations are governed, or are regulated, or how they communicate with stakeholders and the wider community. This award is meant to recognize the outstanding contribution(s) by an individual to corporate governance in Canada.

Please follow the guidelines on length of submission and use of attachments set out in the nomination process for the Excellence in Governance awards.

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