Today, strategy kicks off the first phase of its Agency of the Year submission process. The “register to enter” is an important first step that agencies must complete if they plan to compete in the program.

The annual competition sees shops across different disciplines – creative, media, digital, PR and design – vie to be named one of Canada’s top shops based on their portfolio of work. Agencies that wish to register must fill out the online entry form by May 16.

Companies entering for Agency of the Year will need to enter five cases, while those entering the Media, Digital, PR, Design and Small Agency of the Year contests will need three cases. More information on entry guidelines can be found on the Agency of the Year website.

Once the work that an agency plans to enter has been vetted by strategy and deemed eligible for entry, agencies will be notified and can then submit their full written case studies and visual assets for our expert judges to review, which will need to be submitted by June 6.

The work must have launched in the 12-month period between June 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025. All of the campaigns entered in a single category must be for different brands, must be Canadian, and cannot include self-promotional work. Global campaigns created in Canada must have appeared in the Canadian market. Exceptions will be made for Canadian-owned companies (such as a Canadian tourism operations) that run campaigns for a foreign market. Agencies must also submit unique campaigns for each competition, and can’t submit the same work for a specific brand in multiple categories.

Payment will be made after entries are finalized and will be done on a per-competition basis. The entry fee ($850) is payable when the cases are uploaded and is a cost per agency for each award category, not per case.

The shortlists for the 2025 Agency of the Year will be revealed this fall ahead of an awards gala where Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will recognize agencies with the most impressive bodies of work in the country.