From a small seed, a mighty agency may grow.

Beginning 2019, strategy will recognize Canada’s most versatile and nimble shops, launching Small Agency of the Year, the sixth category within the AOY awards family.

Industry requests and ongoing consultation led to the development of the new competition category that recognizes smaller creative agencies.

Participating shops should have less than 50 staffers in their ranks; they must be independently owned (or at least have a majority stake); and they must identify as a general creative ad agency. These nimble shops are required to enter three campaigns that have launched in Canada within the last year.

The first call for entries, in which agencies need only state their intent to enter, will open on April 1. Qualifying shops will then be invited to enter three pieces of advertising work – along with the main agency, digital, media, PR and design agency contenders – when submissions open in May. A jury panel will score the work to find this year’s top shops. Those winners will then be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze titles at a gala in the fall.