Frequently asked
questions

Innovators & Entrepreneurs Foundation, in partnership with UPS, is proud to present the 2023 Canada Innovation & Entrepreneurship Awards (CANIE Awards), celebrating excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation across the country!

The CANIE Awards recognizes and honours outstanding entrepreneurs belonging to one or more racialized and/or equity-seeking group(s) who have demonstrated excellence in innovation, sustainability, social impact, community leadership, and business achievement. The prestigious CANIE Awards shine a spotlight on our nation’s best and brightest entrepreneurs belonging to equity-deserving communities!

The charity is thrilled to offer four (4) 2023 CANIE Award categories to celebrate our nation’s leaders in entrepreneurship.

• Global Export Business Owner of the Year Award, Sponsored by UPS

Celebrating the distinction of a Canadian business founder who has achieved success in launching their product(s) into international markets. 

Additional Eligibility Requirement: can demonstrate that the business is exporting its products to markets outside of Canada. 

• Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Sponsored by UPS

Celebrating an Indigenous founder and business owner delivering outstanding results in business and community impact.

• Prince’s Trust Canada Veteran Entrepreneur Award

Awarded to a CAF Military Veteran entrepreneur who has demonstrated outstanding entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and leadership.

Additional Eligibility Requirement: has been honourably discharged from Canadian Armed Forces. 

• Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Sponsored by Ownr

Recognizing the excellence of a Canadian founder and business in innovation and entrepreneurial achievement.

The 2023 CANIE Awards application is open to any natural person who meets all the eligibility requirements listed below, and each Award category’s specific additional eligibility requirements.

All Award Category Applicants/nominees must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Have a business founded and based/headquartered in Canada.
• Be at least one of the following for the business the application is based on: founder, owner, co-founder, co-owner, person who owns or co-owns the entity or trademark for brand, product name, or service.
• Be active in the business and a senior leader/key decision-maker.
• Have a business that has been operating with a product or service in market and generating revenue for a minimum of two years. 
• Be a member of an equity-deserving or/and racialized community(ies), per the charity’s definition (see definition below). If specified in the Award category, the applicant/nominee must be a member of the equity-deserving group identified in the category name. 
• If selected as a finalist or winner, participate in all activities outlined in the 2023 CANIE Awards Application Terms and Conditions. 

Innovators & Entrepreneurs Foundation (IEF, or “the charity”) exists to support entrepreneurs and innovators belonging to equity-deserving and/or racialized communities across Canada. We align our definition of racialized and equity-deserving groups with definitions used by United Nations, and that used by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health; defined as members from groups and communities that experience social, cultural, political, educational, and economic discrimination and exclusion because of unequal power relationships across economic, political, educational, social, and cultural dimensions.

Applications and nominations for the 2023 CANIE Awards will only be accepted through the charity’s website Award application portal.

Applications/nominations for the 2023 CANIE Awards will be accepted from June 12th, 2023, at 9:30am ET to July 24th, 2023, at 4pm ET.

No, applications and nominations will not be accepted after 4pm ET on July 24th, 2023.

Yes, a PDF version of the portal application questions will be made available on the charity’s website for applicants/nominators to review the questions and prepare their responses to submit through the charity’s website awards application portal.

Yes. Applications/nominations can be submitted by individuals or organizations, by a third party or by a nominating partner. The application must be completed in full, and the person named as the nominee/applicant must be informed of all terms and conditions of the application.

Yes, one can apply/be nominated for as many 2023 CANIE Award categories as they qualify for.

No, only one submission per applicant per category will move onto the adjudication process, provided all eligibility requirements are met. For duplicate submissions from one applicant/nominee for the same category, only the first application will be considered. Duplicate submissions from the same applicant/nominee in one category will be removed and disqualified.

No, an applicant/nominee will not be awarded more than one award.

Yes, you can apply for a different award category than the category award won in 2022.

Yes, you can apply for the 2023 CANIE Awards if you were a recipient of IEF’s 2022/23 Micro-grant.

• All nominations and applications will be adjudicated equally.
• Applications and nominations not meeting the CANIE Award requirements will be disqualified.
• Incomplete applications and nominations will be disqualified. 
• Duplicate applications for the same award category will be disqualified. 

Innovators & Entrepreneurs Foundation Adjudication Process

• The first adjudication panel consisting of the IEF team and board members and IEF stakeholders will work with the existing parameters of each award category to shortlist applicants per category. 
• The business information questions asked in Section One of the application are required and will determine eligibility but are not graded.
• A second panel consisting of the IEF team and board members and IEF stakeholders will adjudicate the shortlist and select the top four (4) finalists using a ten-point grading scale applied to the Section Two Award Questions in the application. 
• A voting system will then be introduced with the second adjudication panel to each select the top four (4) applicants in order of the adjudicator’s rank. The charity will then aggregate the adjudicators’ rankings to determine the winner of each award category.

The charity will announce the finalists of each category in late August 2023. The winners of the 2023 CANIE Awards will be announced live and in person on October 26th, 2023, at the 2023 CANIE Awards Winner Round Circle panel discussion and VIP Cocktail Party.

The four finalists for each award category (16 finalists in total) will receive a professionally produced promotional video for business promotion. In addition, IEF will conduct a storytelling and marketing campaign featuring each finalist and their business. The charity will share their story for educational purposes and to raise the business’s profile in local, regional, and national communities. 

Finalists will also be provided invitations to the Winners’ Circle panel discussion & VIP Party, and the two regional Celebration Cocktail Parties held in Autumn 2023.

In addition to the professionally produced business promotions video and the story-telling campaign, each 2023 CANIE Award winner will receive a $10,000 cash award for their business and a personalized trophy. Each Award winner will be celebrated in person at the 2023 CANIE Awards Winners’ Circle panel discussion and VIP Cocktail Party hosted in Brampton, Ontario on October 26th, 2023. 

If you have any additional questions not answered from the FAQs or on the charity’s website, please email awards@ief-fie.ca for any 2023 CANIE Awards-related questions.

As a national charity, Innovators & Entrepreneurs Foundation relies on the support of its sponsors, partners, and donors to execute all its programming, including the annual CANIE Awards. 

• Each applicant/nominator will be asked to make a $25 donation upon application submission to cover the application administrative fees. Donations are not mandatory and will not impact award adjudication. Donations made will be retained in confidence from the adjudication team until after adjudication is complete and the finalists and winner of each category are determined. 
• For 2023 CANIE Awards Events sponsorship and partnership inquiries, please contact Natasha Morano, IEF’s Director of Partnerships at natasha.morano@ief-fie.ca. 
• To volunteer for the 2023 CANIE Awards events, please contact the charity at info@ief-fie.ca. 
• Donations to the charity can be made here.