Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.
Canada earned another 31 nominations across seven categories on Tuesday at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, bringing the country’s total to 125. Canadians were particularly strong in the Film Lions category, with 16 nods.
The categories announced Tuesday morning include: Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy, Film and Luxury Lions. Canada was shut out of the Creative Strategy and Luxury Lions categories.
Rethink led Canadian agencies with six nods on Day 2, while FCB Toronto earned three, two for “The Count,” which won Gold in the Health & Wellness category earlier this week.
Monday saw the release of Design, Entertainment and Entertainment for Gaming, Music and Sport, as well as PR, Digital Craft, Film Craft, Industry Craft, Media, Social & Creator and Direct, while Sunday highlighted Print, Outdoor, and Health & Wellness Lions finalists.
In 2024, Canada picked up a total of 166 shortlist nods. Looking further back, Canada set a record in 2023 with 202 mentions. This is compared to 89 in 2022 and 141 in 2021.
Check back every day this week for the Canadian shortlists and Lion wins. Winners from today’s shortlist will hit the stage Thursday evening in the Palais, with strategy breaking the news at 9:30pm (CEST) / 3:30pm (EST).
Correction: Rethink Toronto was previously omitted as a co-agency on the Molson Coors “Coors Light Coors Light” campaign in the official Cannes Lions shortlist and winner lists. All related articles and award tallies have now been updated to accurately reflect Rethink’s contribution and Canada’s total.
Brand Experience & Activation (8)
“Pizza WRMR”
Pizza Hut Canada
Leo Toronto
Gaming-Led Brand Experience
“Telus GamerX”
Telus
Rethink Toronto
Gaming-Led Brand Experience
“Heinz Chip Dip”
Kraft Heinz
Rethink Toronto
Customer Acquisition & Retention
“Cheat on Your Cheeseburger”
Pizza Hut Canada
Leo Toronto
Live Brand Experience or Activation
“Open Endorsements”
KFC Canada
Courage Toronto
Guerrilla Marketing & Stunt
“Airbnb Up House”
Airbnb
Weber Shandwick Toronto / San Francisco / Los Angeles / Seattle / Atlanta
Brand Owned Experience
Sponsorship & Brand Partnership
“Superstitious”
KFC Canada
Courage Toronto
Social Behaviour
Creative Business Transformation (1)
“Welcome Card”
Rogers
Publicis Canada Toronto
Brand Purpose & Impact
Creative Commerce (3)
“U Up?”
IKEA
Rethink Toronto
Social/Influencer Commerce
Use of Humour
“Welcome Card”
Rogers
Publicis Canada Toronto
Cultural Engagement
Creative Effectiveness (3)
“Heinz Ketchup & Kraft Heinz Seemingly Ranch”
Heinz Kranch
Rethink Toronto
Real-Time Response
Breakthrough on a Budget
“Coors Lights Out”
Coors Light
Rethink Toronto
Breakthrough on a Budget
Film (17)
“Aylmer – The Canadian Soup”
Aylmer
Aliments BCI Foods, Saint-Hyacinthe / Les Evades, Montreal
Consumer Goods
“Ticket To Dream Air Canada”
Air Canada
FCB Toronto
Travel, Leisure, Restaurants & Fast-Food
“Opera”
The Royal Ontario Museum
Broken Heart Love Affair
Not-for-Profit / Charity / Government
Screens & Events
“We Are All Fucked”
BC Securities Commission
One23West Vancouver
Not-for-Profit / Charity / Government
“The Count”
SickKids Foundation
FCB Toronto
Not-for-Profit / Charity / Government
Single-Market Campaign
Social Behaviour
“Finish It”
Terry Fox Foundation
Diamond Toronto
New Realities & Emerging Tech
Single-Market Campaign
Social Behaviour
“Love Captured”
The Exodus Road
Klick Health Toronto
Online & Viral Film
“Cell Phone”
Government of Quebec
LG2 Quebec
Single-Market Campaign
“Most Likely To”
Dove
Ogilvy Toronto
Single-Market Campaign
“18 Months”
Second Nature
Klick Health Toronto
Social Behaviour
Cultural Engagement
“The Orange”
Fondation chu Sainte-Justine
LG2 Montreal
Cultural Engagement
