The Globe and Mail is pleased to announce the 2023 Canadian Young Lions Competition winners

The Globe and Mail, the Official Festival Representative in Canada for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is pleased to announce the winning teams for the 2023 Canadian Young Lions Competition in all five categories: Digital, Film, Print, Media and Marketers.

Over the weekend of March 4 to March 6, 2023, working in teams of two, 680 entrants received a brief from a non-profit charity and had to complete the challenge for their respective category within a 24- or 48-hour time period.

Each year, the Competition jury chairs select a non-profit charity as the subject of the competition briefs. This year, two charities were chosen: the Nature Conservancy of Canada for the Print, Film, Digital and Media categories, and The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund for the Marketers category.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada

The Nature Conservancy of Canada protects, restores, and sustainably manages the most ecologically important Canadian lands in the urgent fight against climate change and bio-diversity loss. With your donations NCC purchases and protects land – permanently, from coast to coast. In this, NCC is unlike any other environmental organization. When you donate, the difference you make lasts forever. Young Canadians are deeply worried about the environmental crisis. They understand that solving climate change will require a collective effort, but real progress seems to have stalled out. They want to know how they can make a sustainable difference in protecting nature, to have true impact.

The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund

In 1966, at 12 years old, Chanie Wenjack, an Anishinaabe boy, ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School in northern Ontario to reunite with his family 600 kilometers away. His body was found beside the railway tracks on October 22, 1966. His death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in the residential school system, and years later, inspired Gord Downie’s album, Secret Path. Reconciliation became Gord’s central focus after he learned more about the history of Indigenous people in Canada and residential schools. At one of the final Tragically Hip concerts, Gord Downie asked all Canadians to look at the state of Indigenous-settler relations in this country and to “Do Something” to change them for the better.

The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is foundational to Canada and critical to its future. The impact of residential schools is still felt today, affecting the health and well-being of Indigenous people and communities, and contributing to inequalities. Reconciliation is critical to healing this rift and enabling the well-being and prosperity of all peoples in Canada.

Competition submission entries were judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders, led by returning jury chairs Mary Maddever, EVP, Editorial Director, Brunico (Digital, Film, Print), Cathy Collier, Chief Executive Officer, OMD Canada (Media) and Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer, Kruger Products Inc. (Marketers).

The medal winners for 2023 Canadian Young Lions Competitions are:

DIGITAL

Gold – Pay-Per-Viewpoint

• Andronicus Wu, Art Director, The Garden
• Jon Dawe, Senior Copywriter, The Garden

Silver – The VPN that Virtually Protects Nature 

• Sammy Lo, Art Director, LG2
• Peter Sreckovic, Senior Copywriter, Sid Lee

Bronze – Tip Your Trees

• Ethan Gans, Writer, Rethink
• Ekenechukwu Oduh, Art Director, Rethink

FILM

Gold – Do Nothing for Something

• Cory Hansen, Senior Writer, Milestone Integrated Marketing
• Anthony Curran, Motion Designer, Milestone Integrated Marketing

Silver – HOLD ON

• Frédérick Pelletier, Freelance Director, Clark Influence
• Gabrielle Roy, Strategist, Clark Influence

Bronze – Forever Home

• Samantha Beauchamp, Art Director, Rain
• Rebecca M. Williams, Senior Copywriter, Rain

PRINT

Gold – The Deforestation Defense

• Jaclyn McConnell, Art Director, Rethink
• Shawn Weidman, Copywriter, Rethink

Silver – Thanks for Nothing

• Grace Guan, Junior Writer, Taxi
• Kyle Simpson, Art Director, Taxi

Bronze – Immortal Landscape

• Emma Laberge, Art Director, Rethink
• Laurent H. Tremblay, Copywriter, Rethink

MEDIA

Gold – Consent to Conserve

• Thierry Lessard, Head of data and technology, Cartier
• Olivier Houle, Media Strategy Supervisor, Cartier

Silver – Do You Have the Willpower

• Dustin Wilson, Associate Director of Strategy, OMD Canada
• Kunal Jain, Paid Social Supervisor, OMD Canada

Bronze – My Nature Moments

• Béa Beaini, Assistant Media Designer, Cossette Media
• Gabriel Lafond, Media Designer, Cossette Media

MARKETERS

Gold – The Purple Legacy

• Mike Miura, Manager, Commercial Marketing Strategy, MLSE
• Ryan Grippo, Associate, Strategy, MLSE

Silver –The Land is Your Land

• Christie Stelling, Brand Manager, Twisted Tea & Truly Hard Seltzer, Moosehead Breweries
• Sarah Smith, Creative Manager, Moosehead Breweries

Bronze – Food For Thought

• Abigail Rigonan, National Marketing Specialist, McCafé & Breakfast, McDonald’s Canada
• Jordyn Posluns, National Marketing Consultant, McCafé & Breakfast, McDonald’s Canada