Canadian PR's Biggest Night: The 2026 ACE Award Winners

The annual awards gala returned to The Carlu with 130 trophies handed out and a record-setting Best in Show.

The Canadian Public Relations Society's Toronto Chapter crowned its best communicators of the past year last night at The Carlu, handing out 130 trophies across dozens of categories at the 2026 ACE Awards.

Weber Shandwick and Chevrolet Canada took Best in Show for the Chevrolet High IQ Baseball Fan Campaign, a data-driven digital campaign that also earned gold in Digital Communications, while a two-way tie for Best Creative Campaign recognized two of the standout efforts of the year. Edery & Lord Communications with Target and Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism's Hello Humpback shared the award with White Ribbon and Narrative XPR's My Friend Max Hate, a campaign aimed at engaging young men on gender-based violence prevention.

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Hello Humpback was the evening's most decorated entry overall, picking up gold in Best CSR or Cause-Related Campaign, Digital Communications, Best Use of Artificial Intelligence, and Best Creative Campaign. It was a remarkable sweep for a tourism-meets-conservation campaign that leaned into AI-generated creative to make the province's humpback whale population the star.

Craft Public Relations had one of the strongest nights of any agency, with wins spread across experiential, media relations, product launches, and crisis management. Their work ranged from Tim Hortons holiday activations and a Reese's Nougat launch to The Last Bottle for Moosehead Breweries, which earned gold in both Digital Communications and Crisis or Issues Management.

McDonald's Canada and Weber Shandwick continued a strong run with multiple golds, including the 30th Anniversary of the McFlurry, which took gold in both social media and marketing communications, and McDavid's, which landed gold in marketing communications and silver in media relations under $50,000.

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On the agency side, Earnscliffe had a consistently strong showing in media relations, while ruckus Digital earned gold in Marketing Communications for The Dash-elor, a DoorDash Valentine's Day campaign built around a rose-toting courier character that extended to a street activation at Toronto's Union Station.

In the leadership awards, Olamipo Ogunnotewas named New PR Professional of the Year, Samiha Farihareceived the Lois Marsh Award, andLucy Lucwas named PR Student of the Year.

"These winners represent the best of our profession," said Erin Griffin, Co-President of the CPRS Toronto Chapter. "Seeing them celebrated in a room full of their peers was a true honour."

The full list of 2026 ACE Award winners is available at cprstoronto.com.