Parks and Recreation Ontario | 2026 Awards of Excellence

About the Awards

The Parks and Recreation Ontario Awards program recognizes and honours individuals and organizations by highlighting outstanding innovations and achievements that contribute to the advancement of the parks and recreation sector.

Award Descriptions & Evaluation

Please review the awards descriptions before you begin your nomination. You can use this form to apply for an award(s) on behalf of your own organization or to nominate another worthy organization or individual. There is no nomination limit per organization.

Important Dates

  • Nomination Deadline: April 10, 2026, 5pm EST
  • Nomination Review & Evaluation: May 2026
  • Confirmation to Award Recipients: June 2026
  • Presentation of Awards: TBD

If you require assistance with completing your nomination, please reach out to pro@prontario.org 

Nominator Information
Your name:





Please select the award category:

The IDEA Award recognizes individuals, and organizations that champion equitable access to parks and recreation services through advocacy, infrastructure, and/or programming. Award recipients have demonstrated the provision of improved and on-going access for equity-deserving groups.
The Innovation Award recognizes the contributions of high-performing individuals, teams, and organizations in developing innovative or unique approaches to efficiently and effectively meeting a community’s needs. This can include programming, special events, marketing, evaluation, customer service, and/or human resource management.
This award is presented for completed projects that demonstrate excellence in design of facilities intended for public use. The facility must showcase uniqueness, innovation, and creativity for recreation use. Award applicants must demonstrate that they engaged in public consultation to determine the scope of the project and how the project was able to meet their community’s needs. Eligible projects include new builds and retrofits.
This award recognizes and encourages excellence in academic research that is impactful to the parks and recreation sector. This will include published works but may also comprise other forms of scholarly output or research-related knowledge mobilization. Nominations may be based on a long record of research/scholarly productivity, a recent publication of particularly high quality, recent receipt of significant research funding, or other meritorious achievement. Nominees may be individuals or research teams.
This award recognizes the outstanding achievements and accomplishments of a professional in the early stages of their career as a leader, instructor, coordinator, supervisor, administrator, consultant, or a combination of these in the field of parks and recreation. Applicants must have between five and ten years of full-time employment in the sector and may apply at any stage in life.

The Community Impact Award honours a parks and recreation professional who has made exceptional contributions and championed community-focused initiatives, leaving a significant footprint on the sector and their community. Recipients will have demonstrated inspirational leadership, enhanced the quality of life for others, and encouraged the spirit of volunteerism in their community.

The HIGH FIVE® Champion Award is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional dedication to the HIGH FIVE principles in their organization. It recognizes the work done by the individual to support implementation and honours their commitment to ensuring the well-being of children. Applications should demonstrate the achievements of the individual in all four areas of the HIGHFIVE® framework: training and development; program assessment; policies and procedures; and awareness.
The HIGH FIVE® Champion Award recognizes organizations that are implementing the HIGH FIVE® Quality Standard in a unique and innovative way. The Award honours their dedication to children’s health and their efforts to ensure quality programming. Applications and nominations should demonstrate how HIGH FIVE® has been implemented at all levels of the organization, demonstrating a cultural shift and child-focused approach to developing and delivering children’s programs.
Established in honour of the late Bob Secord, known to the sector as “Mr. Recreation,” PRO recognizes one college and one university student enrolled in their final year of full-time or part-time study in a recreation-related course of study. Recipients will have demonstrated positive attributes and leadership skills in the parks and recreation sector through their academic, employment, and voluntary pursuits. Recipients will receive a complimentary registration to a PRO learning event, and a one year PRO Membership. NOTE: To be considered for this award, students must be nominated by a placement supervisor or faculty member.
This annual monetary bursary is awarded to a promising parks and recreation post-secondary student, graduate student or practitioner in Ontario who identities as female, to support the pursuit of professional development or education. This bursary is funded by the City of Toronto: Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division. 

Nominee name:
Applicant name:
Contact name:
If nominating an organization or municipality, please identify a main contact:




Organization name:
Educational Institution:
Employer:
Employer or Educational Institution:
Name of nominated organization:
Please use the organization's legal name







Please use the two character abbreviation for your Province / State







Date: MM-DD-YYYY




Once all questions in this section are complete, please press "Submit".

Once all questions in this section are complete, please press "Submit".










If your nomination is for infrastructure, please attach photos of the infrastructure:
Please upload images of the facility design:
Please upload examples of the nominees research contributions and/or achievements:
Please attach a current resume, academic transcript, and a letter of support from a placement supervisor or faculty member.

Click the button to submit your award nomination. You will be able to submit multiple nominations, and can simply close the page when you are finished.

Contact pro@prontario.org if you need assistance with this form