Molson Prizes

Eligibility

Eligible nominators

Candidates must be nominated by a nominator, either an individual or an organization. Anyone or any organization with an interest in, and capacity for, nominating appropriate individuals is eligible to do so.

Eligible candidates

These prizes are for individuals. Candidates must:

• be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, as defined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. They do not need to be residing in Canada.
• be living as of the nomination deadline date
• have made a substantial and distinguished contribution over a significant period.
• still be active and productive in their career.

Ineligible candidates

• Corporations and organizations are not eligible.
• Members of the board of the Canada Council or SSHRC are not eligible during their term as board members, and for 6 months following the end of their term.

Summary

The Canada Council is committed to equity and inclusion, and encourages applications and nominations from individuals, groups and organizations from culturally diverse, Deaf, disability and official language minority communities. The Canada Council is committed to reaffirming and revitalizing its relationship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada. Measures are in place in all programs to support these commitments.

Two Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, in the amount of $50,000 each, are awarded annually to distinguished individuals (one in the arts and one in the social sciences and humanities). The prizes are intended to encourage continuing contributions to the cultural and intellectual heritage of Canada.

The prizes are funded by an endowment from the Molson Foundation and are administered by the Canada Council in collaboration with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The winners are chosen by a peer assessment committee, which is appointed jointly by the Canada Council and SSHRC.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

Deadline: October 5, 2024

2 prizes of $50,000 each:

• 1 prize in the arts
• 1 prize in the social sciences and humanities

Guidelines

Nomination Form (DOCX 117.7 KB)

Updated guidelines will be posted 2 months prior to the deadline. 

You can submit a nomination to molson-prizes@canadacouncil.ca.

Cumulative list of winners [157 KB]

Please refer to the nomination form for detailed instructions.

• Letter of nomination (2 pages maximum)
• Biography of the candidate (1 page maximum)
• Candidate’s current curriculum vitae (10 pages maximum)
• Letters of support from experts in the field (3 letters maximum)
• Written support items (e.g., articles, reviews, commentaries and promotional items) from independent external sources (3 maximum, up to 4 pages each)

Nomination preparation

• The nominator is responsible for providing all the information and support material requested.
• The Canada Council will make eligibility decisions based on the information provided in the nomination.
• Submit only the material requested. Extra material will not be shown to the peer assessment committee.
• Carefully choose your support material as committee members have limited time in which to review each nomination.
• In addition to filling out your contact information in the nomination form, if you have an account on the Canada Council’s portal, please ensure that the information is up to date.

Resubmissions

• A nominator may resubmit a nomination for a specific candidate as many times as desired.
• However, a nominator may only use the same nomination package for 2 consecutive deadlines. To do this, the nominator must send a letter to the Canada Council requesting that the nomination package be resubmitted and include an updated curriculum vitae for the candidate, on or before the competition deadline date.
• A new nomination package is required for a third consecutive nomination, or if more than 1 year has passed since the last nomination.

Instructions – How to submit a nomination

Send your completed nomination form and required documents as 1 email on or before the deadline date by 11:59 pm (local time) to molson-prizes@canadacouncil.ca. The maximum file size including attachments is 25 MB. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 3 business days, please contact us.

Contact information

molson-prizes@canadacouncil.ca

1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4086