Celebrating the vital role of journalists
Each year, World Press Freedom Canada pays tribute to those making an outstanding contribution to press freedom in Canada at an annual luncheon to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
Press Freedom Awards
The annual Press Freedom Awards recognize individuals whose public interest reporting has overcome significant challenges, such as government secrecy, legal pressures, political intimidation, threats of violence, harassment, or other tactics aimed at stifling their work or endangering their safety and career.
Nominees must demonstrate exceptional resilience in pursuing stories that serve the public interest despite these obstacles. The awards honour those who have shown courage in continuing their work to promote press freedom, transparency, and the right to report on issues that matter, even in the face of adversity. These individuals make a lasting impact on public discourse by ensuring that critical stories are told, regardless of the challenges they face.
WPFC awards two Press Freedom prizes, one for larger publications and a Press Freedom, Local Journalism award for a journalist who works for a small-market news organization.
Career Achievement Award in honour of Spencer Moore
This award celebrates individuals who have shown extraordinary dedication to press freedom and transparency throughout their careers. Named in memory of Spencer Moore, a founding member of the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, this award recognizes those whose enduring efforts reflect his legacy of championing the free press.
The nominee must have demonstrated an unwavering dedication to defending and upholding press freedom, even in the face of significant challenges or threats throughout their career and a proven track record of overcoming obstacles to press freedom in their pursuit of truth and transparency through their work. The nominee’s work should have made a significant and lasting impact on journalism, media advocacy, or press freedom initiatives and empowering the public’s right to know.
Student Achievement Award
This award recognizes an outstanding student journalist who has demonstrated a commitment to press freedom. Nominees must have been a registered student at a Canadian post-secondary institution, whose work showed determination to publish a story in the face of challenges or obstacles to freely reporting on issues that matter to their school community. Work must have been published or aired on either student media outlets or mainstream online or broadcast media outlets. Unpublished work done for class assignments will not be accepted.
International Editorial Cartoon Competition Award
An important highlight of the World Press Freedom Day Luncheon is the recognition of editorial cartoonists from around the world who have used images and words to make powerful commentary on world issues. The International Editorial Cartoon Competition receives hundreds of entries every year, often from countries where press freedom is not a reality but a distant dream.
Nominations for the 2025 Press Freedom awards are now closed.
Prizes
The Press Freedom Award winner will receive $2,500 and a certificate from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. The Local Journalism Award winner will receive $2,500. The Career Achievement winner is awarded $2,500. The Student Achievement Award winner will receive $1,000.
WPFC is honoured to award journalists who continually confront secrecy, defy intimidation, and overcome dangerous obstacles in their pursuit of truth. Without them, stories that reveal the facts and uncover the evidence shaping our collective reality may not be told.
Winners are announced at our annual Press Freedom Awards Luncheon at the National Arts Centre to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
