***The Burlington’s Best awards program is currently under review. More information will be provided in the coming months. Please subscribe to this page to receive updates when available.***
Burlington's Best Awards is an awards program that honours Burlington's most outstanding citizens. The winners in all categories are revealed at a celebration held in May of each year. The awards program is run by the Burlington's Best Committee.
- Award Categories
- Past Nominees and Winners
- Nomination Eligibility
- Nominator Guidelines
- Selection Process
- Nomination Forms
- Sponsors
Award Categories
Citizen of the Year
A person whose volunteer activity has made a significant and sustained contribution to the vibrancy and wellbeing of the Burlington community in 2018.
Junior Citizen of the Year
A youth, 14-18 years of age who has made a significant contribution to the Burlington community in 2018.
Senior Person of the Year
A person, 55 years or older who has made a significant contribution to the Burlington Community and/or advocated on behalf of seniors in 2018.
Environmental Award
An individual or group that improved and/or protects Burlington's environment in 2018.
Arts Person of the Year
An individual who has contributed to the arts in Burlington as an artist, patron or advocate including but not limited to, visual arts, media arts, musical arts, performing arts and literary arts in 2018.
Community Service Award
An individual or group whose volunteer activity has contributed to the betterment of the Burlington community in 2018.
Heritage Award
An individual or group who has demonstrated a commitment to the preservation of Burlington's heritage, and has volunteered their time in an effort to support the preservation of Burlington's heritage in 2018.
Accessibility Award
An individual, organization or business who have made significant contributions to increase access and participation of people with disabilities in the Burlington community in 2018.
| 2018 Burlington's Best Award Winners |
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The 2018 winners pose with their awards. Front row from left to right: Hayley Verrall (Arts), Trudy Csernyei (Senior), Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, Andrea Howard (Community), Joan Downey (Heritage) Back row from left to right: Michael McDonald, on behalf of Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club (Environmental), Keziah Oduro (Junior), Greg Howard (Community), Karen Phelps (Citizen of the Year) 2018 Burlington's Best Nominee YouTube Videos |
| 2017 Burlington's Best Award Winners |
The 2017 winners pose with their awards. From left to right: Kim Moss (Community Service), Addison Wood (Junior), Ron Danielsen, on behalf of Friends of Freeman Station (Heritage), Mae Radford (Senior), Osob Adus (Citizen of the Year), Mayor Rick Goldring, Bill Murray (Accessibility), Teresa Seaton (Arts Person), Gloria Reid (Environmental) 2017 Burlington's Best Nominee YouTube Videos
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| 2016 Burlington's Best Award Winners |
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| 2015 Burlington's Best Award Winners |
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The 2015 winners pose with their awards. From left to right: Ken Woodruff, Jessica and Josh Martin, accepting on behalf of their mother Janice Martin, Dan Murray, Mayor Rick Goldring, Brenda Hunter, Chris Choi, Winifred Stewart, Bob Pring.
2015 Burlington's Best Nominee YouTube Videos |
| 2014 Burlington's Best Award Winners |
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The 2014 winners pose with their awards. From left to right: Mary Nichol, Tomy Bewick, Bonnie Purkis, Ron Foxcroft, Kevin Han, Jan Morris, accepting on behalf of her late husband Dave Morris, Susan Fraser. Burlington's Best Awards Committee congratulates all nominees and winners.
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Nomination Eligibility
You can nominate:
- an individual who has actively demonstrated energetic and exemplary volunteer service to our community during 2018.
- a resident of Burlington.
- their achievement(s) must be over and above the individual's paid employment in an occupation or profession, with the exception of the Arts Person, Environmental, or Accesibility Award.
- someone that has not won previously for the category.
Sorry, you can't nominate yourself.
Nominator Guidelines
The process for nominating candidates for awards will be greatly simplified if the procedures listed below are followed:
- You, as the nominator, can significantly influence the selection process by accurately completing the online nomination form, providing all required documentation, supplying relevant information in concise English, and following all instructions carefully.
- Consider the criteria for the award as described. Ask the question: Does the achievement fit the award?
- Review tips for preparing a successful nomination.
| Tips for Preparing a Sucessful Nomination |
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The preparation of a good nomination should not require lots of work, especially if you are very familiar with the candidate and his/her work. A well written nomination should not be long. The best ones are short and clearly show the impact of the work of the nominee(s). The most time consuming activity is to select people who will support the award with a letter of recommendation and the follow-up to remind these authors so your nomination can be submitted on time. Match the nominee with the award As the nominator, your most important responsibility is to nominate a person who has made an important impact to the field of interest covered by the award. Nominators should always take two simple steps:
Be specific Provide a specific, meaningful description of the candidate's contributions. Don't say something like, "He/she has done good work." Rather, be specific. This is the most important information that you can give in the nomination. Also, be specific in describing the impact of the contribution. In addition, make sure that your nomination is brief and contains a specific description of the candidate's contribution. Meaningful support letters Sometimes selecting people to write meaningful supporting letters can be the most challenging part of the preparation of a good nomination. Make sure that these people are familiar with the contributions of your candidate and that they support your nomination. Get supporting letters from people who have used the contribution of the candidate. Also, ask the authors of supporting letters to avoid just copying what you wrote in the nomination. The selection committee treats these letters very seriously and expects the author of the letter to provide his/her personal views on the specific contributions of the candidate. |
Selection Process
The Burlington's Best Awards Committee will review all nominations. You will receive confirmation of your nomination submission. Nominees will be advised of their nomination after the deadline. The Burlington's Best Committee has the right to withdraw nominations that do not fit the criteria for individuals or groups who have previously been recognized.
Sponsors
This event would not be a success without the generosity of our sponsors.
- City of Burlington (Citizen of the Year Award)
- The Burlington Post (Community Sponsor)
- Smith's Funeral Home (Community Sponsor)
- Heritage Burlington (Heritage Award)
- The Village of Tansley Woods (Senior Person of the Year Award)
- Cogeco (Community Service Award)
- K.W. Irmisch (Arts Person of the Year Award)
- Burlington Accessible Advisory Committee (Accessibility Award)
- Youth Fest (The Junior Citizen of the Year Award)
- Walker Environmental (Environmental Award)