1. The Digital Publishing Awards competition is open to Canadian magazines and digital publications, and to Canadian citizens or permanent residents (landed immigrants) whose work has appeared in them during the current awards period: January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
2. An eligible digital publication is editorial in nature. It must:
   • Have and submit a clear, independent editorial mandate;
   • Be the product of an editorial process;
   • And be published regularly.
3. An eligible digital publication—including those that support established brands in magazine, newspaper, broadcast, B2B and other journalism, as well as those that serve their audiences exclusively as digital brands—is one with a permanent editorial staff in Canada and published in either English or French, or a combination of both.
4. Awards are intended for Canadian content creators and as such all creators and collaborators—including but not limited to writers, editors, art directors, graphic designers, web developers, photographers, illustrators, and videographers—named on a submission must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
5. Entry fees are $125 each plus HST. Early bird fee is $115 each plus HST.
6. Individual entries may consist of content repurposed from print or visual platforms but may not be comprised entirely of repurposed content.
7. Individual entries comprised, wholly or in part, of advertorial, native content/advertising, and/or promotional content may be considered ineligible for an award.
8. Except where stated, there is no limit on the number of entries submitted per category.
9. Finalists will be proportionate to the number of entries submitted in a category up to a maximum of ten finalists.
10. The Digital Publishing Awards reserves the right to use the entries of finalists and winners in the awards presentation program, event material, exhibit, digital book, website, online archive, social media and other promotional efforts, but not for sale or profit.
11. Entries that are incomplete, do not conform to the rules, or do not fit category definitions may be disqualified without notice. Entry fees for disqualified or withdrawn submissions will not be refunded.
12. A minimum of three submissions must be received in a category for a panel of judges to be convened. The Digital Publishing Awards also reserves the right to cancel any category in which the jury decides no entry is of sufficient quality to merit an award. In the event that a category is cancelled, entry fees will be refunded to submitters.
13. The decision of the judges will be final.
14. If there is a tie for Gold in a creator-focused category, the $500 cash prize will be split between the two creators.
15. For the categories listed below, entries will be accepted through all three of the National Media Awards Foundation’s programs (Digital Publishing Awards, National Magazine Awards, and National Magazine Awards: B2B). All entries will be evaluated by a single panel of judges, and winners will be announced across all three programs. Categories include:
    • Best Editorial Newsletter
    • Best Podcast: Current Affairs
    • Best Podcast: Arts, Culture and Society
    • Best Online Video: Short
    • Best Online Video: Feature
    • Best Online Video: Mini-Doc
    • Best Arts & Culture Storytelling
    • Best Science & Technology Storytelling

As part of our commitment to transparency, we have published specific judging criteria for each category, so submitters understand the criteria by which the judges consider each submission.

Sponsored Content
The NMAF requires that all submitters disclose sponsored content on the submission form. Sponsored content is defined as editorial content financially supported by an external sponsor, but produced independently from that sponsor. Sponsored content is eligible for awards, provided that the submitter affirms that no third party exerted an influence on or played a role in the editorial process (including but not limited to research, reporting, writing, content and image creation, editing). The NMAF entrusts its juries with the final decision as to whether sponsored content should be considered for an award.

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Deadlines

The call for entries opens December 1, 2023. 

The Early Bird Rate offer ends on January 19, 2024. 

The Final Submission Deadline is January 26, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

The deadline to nominate someone for the Emerging Excellence Award or the Digital Publishing Leadership Award is March 1, 2024.

Fees

Entry fees are $125 each plus HST. Early bird fee is $115 each plus HST.  

To ensure that our awards programs are accessible to a broad range of publications as well as independent writers and visual creators, we are pleased to offer the Freelancer Support Fund.

Payment 

We request payment by either PayPal or Interac e-Transfer to staff@magazine-awards.com.  Your payment must include your invoice number.  

If paying by cheque is your only option, please attach or staple the cheque to a copy of your invoice.

We cannot be responsible for matching e-Transfers or cheques that arrive without an invoice number. Entries with payments not received by February 15, 2024 will NOT be sent for judging.

Please make all cheques payable to the National Media Awards Foundation.

Mail / Courier your cheque to:
National Media Awards Foundation
2300 Yonge Street, Suite 1600
Toronto, ON, M4P 1E4