Provincial Volunteer Service Award Nominations

Ontario Volunteer Service Awards

This award recognizes volunteers for providing committed and dedicated service to an organization.
Adults are recognized by the length of time they've volunteered with one organization, ranging from five to 65 years of continuous service. Youth (24 years old and under) are recognized for two or more years of continuous service.

Eligibility

Organizations that have been in existence for a minimum of five years may submit a nomination.

Each organization may nominate up to nine volunteers (of which a maximum of 6 nominees may be adults).

The nominee(s) must:

• be living persons residing and volunteering in Ontario
• not have received payment for their volunteer work
• be active beyond simple membership in an organization
• not have performed the services as part of their regular business or professional duties

A youth nominee must:

• be under 24 years old and under
• have volunteered with one organization for at least two consecutive years

An adult nominee must have volunteered with one organization for at least five consecutive years.

Organizations with more than one branch can submit separate nominations for up to nine volunteers for each branch.

Required information

• Nominating organization name, address, email, phone number and year established
• Volunteer first name, last name, address, email, and phone number
• Head of organization (if applicable) first name, last name, email, phone number and position title.

How to nominate someone

1. Gather the required information:
2. Create an account (or sign in for returning users) on the Ontario Honours and Awards Portal.
3. Submit your nomination through the portal.

Go to nomination portal

If you don’t want to apply online, you can download the Ontario Volunteer Service Award nomination form and submit it by mail to:

Volunteer Recognition Unit
Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism
1075 Bay Street, 7^th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2B1

Deadline

The deadline to nominate someone is November 15 of each year. Nominations received after the deadline will be considered in the following year.

Selection process

Recipients receive a personalized certificate and lapel pin acknowledging their years of service at a local award recognition ceremony.

Award presentation

Recipients receive a personalized certificate and lapel pin acknowledging their years of service at a local award recognition ceremony.

June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism

This award recognizes people and groups who have made outstanding contributions as volunteers in their communities.

There are two categories:

• Outstanding Volunteer Award: recognizes an individual or group for their commitment to volunteering and longstanding service to their community. Up to 20 individuals and/or groups receive this award each year.
• Excellence in Volunteer Management Award:recognizes an individual or group from an organization that is incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation or registered as a charity for their achievement in encouraging people to volunteer in their communities. Up to five individuals and/or groups receive this award each year.

Eligibility

The person you nominate (the nominee) must be:

• an individual or group (such as a not-for-profit or charity)
• a resident of Ontario
• a living person or an existing institution

You cannot nominate:

• yourself (unless it's a group nomination)
• someone who has passed away
• an elected politician currently in office or political appointee

Required information

To submit a nomination, you will need:

• The nominee’s first name, last name, address, email, and phone number. If you’re nominating a group, please provide a group contact.
• A detailed description the nominee’s achievements and why they should receive the award.
• At least two signed testimonial letters. The letters must be from two different people who are not the nominator. An electronic signature or scanned copy of the signed letters are acceptable. The testimonial writers should:
• know the nominee
• be able to explain the value and impact of the nominee’s achievements
• support the nomination
• The testimonial writers’ first name, last name, email address and phone number.

Additional information

You may include optional supporting documents to give more insight into your nominee’s accomplishments, such as:

• supplementary testimonials
• publications
• media stories and news articles

The testimonial letters and supporting documents are accepted in these formats: doc, docx, pdf, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, txt. The maximum file size for each is 2 MB.

How to nominate someone

1. Gather the required information:
2. Create an account (or sign in for returning users) on the Ontario Honours and Awards Portal.
3. Submit your nomination through the portal.

Go to nomination portal

Read our guide for tips on writing and submitting a nomination.

If you don’t want to apply online, you can download the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism nomination form and submit it by mail to:

Volunteer Recognition Unit
Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism
1075 Bay Street, 7^th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2B1

Deadline

The deadline to nominate someone is December 5 of each year. Eligible nominations received after the deadline will be considered in the following year.

Selection process

An independent selection committee reviews each nomination and recommends who should receive the award.

Award presentation

The awards are presented at a special recognition ceremony in Toronto.

Previous recipients

Read about the previous recipients of this award.

About June Callwood

June Callwood was a Canadian journalist, author and social activist. She committed her life to action on social justice issues, particularly those related to woman and children. She founded, or co-founded, more than 50 Canadian social action organizations.