The Lifetime Volunteer Achievement award recognizes individuals who have made volunteer contributions to their community, region or the province over a period of 25 years or more in built, cultural and/or natural heritage conservation.

Adjudication criteria

The jury will assess all eligible applications based on the adjudication criteria for each award category and with consideration for alignment with standards, best practices, legislation, etc., relevant to the applicable heritage field.

The following are the main criteria used by the jury for the Lifetime Volunteer Achievement award:

• individual has proven his/her commitment to the field of heritage
• individual’s work has had a positive impact on the community, region or province

Who is eligible?

• self-nominations are eligible
• any organization or individual can be a nominator
• individual must be a resident of Ontario
• individual must have a minimum of 25 years of volunteer work in Ontario

Who is not eligible?

• incomplete nominations will not be considered — at least one completed reference from a relevant organization or community member must be provided for the application to be considered complete
• staff and Board members of the Ontario Heritage Trust and their immediate families are not eligible
• posthumous nominations are not eligible

Please direct questions to recognition@heritagetrust.on.ca.

The Excellence in Conservation Award recognizes recently completed projects and ongoing initiatives that demonstrate high standards and exceptional contributions to the sector, and have a significant community impact in one or more of the following heritage fields:

Real property:

• building conservation (adaptive reuse, preservation, restoration, etc.)
• cultural landscape conservation (gardens, parks, archaeological sites, views/vistas, etc.)
• natural heritage conservation (habitat restoration, biodiversity, trails, etc.)

Portable chattels and intangible heritage:

• archives and artifacts (cataloguing, storage, archaeology collections, etc.)
• commemoration and interpretation (exhibits, walking tours, festivals, storytelling, books, digital tools, etc.)

A maximum of 10 awards is granted annually in this category.

Adjudication criteria

The jury will assess all eligible applications based on the adjudication criteria for each award category and with consideration for alignment with standards, best practices, legislation, etc., relevant to the applicable heritage field.

The following are the main criteria used by the jury for the Excellence in Conservation award:

• the project/initiative demonstrates excellence in conservation standards (demonstrated by alignment with standards, best practices, legislation, etc., relevant to the applicable heritage field)
• the project/initiative leaders have shown innovation and creativity
• the relevance, importance and positive impact of the project in the community, region or province are demonstrated

Who is eligible?

• self-nominations are eligible
• any organization or individual can be a nominator
• projects must have been completed or substantially completed within 18 months of the submission deadline
• ongoing initiatives must have met a significant milestone within 18 months of the submission deadline
• project/initiative must be located in Ontario and benefit people living in Ontario

Who is not eligible?

• incomplete nominations will not be considered — at least one completed reference from a relevant organization or community member must be provided for the application to be considered complete
• staff and Board members of the Ontario Heritage Trust and their immediate families are not eligible
• posthumous nominations are not eligible

Please direct questions to recognition@heritagetrust.on.ca.

The Thomas Symons Award for Commitment to Conservation (“Symons Award”) recognizes individuals whose professional career has made significant contributions to natural, cultural and built heritage conservation in Ontario. This award is adjudicated and presented alongside the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards program.

A maximum of one award is granted annually in this category.

Adjudication criteria

The jury will assess all eligible applications based on the adjudication criteria for each award category and with consideration for alignment with standards, best practices, legislation, etc., relevant to the applicable heritage field.

The following are the main criteria used by the jury for the Thomas Symons Award for Commitment to Conservation:

• individual has made exceptional professional contributions to heritage conservation over the course of his/her career
• individual’s work has had a positive impact on the community, region or province

Who is eligible?

• nominee must be a resident of Ontario
• nominee is or has been (could be retired) employed in a field of heritage conservation
• substantial amount of his/her career has been located in, and benefits, Ontario/people living in Ontario

Who is not eligible?

• self-nominations and posthumous nominations are not eligible
• staff and Board members of the Ontario Heritage Trust and their immediate families are not eligible
• incomplete nominations will not be considered — at least one completed reference from a relevant organization or community member must be provided for the application to be considered complete

Please direct questions to recognition@heritagetrust.on.ca.