The City of Toronto’s Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards recognize people and organizations that have created a more equitable city by advancing reconciliation and justice, addressing discrimination, and working to eliminate barriers to equity.
The awards are community-driven. Nominations come from Toronto residents and are selected by a panel of community members with relevant experiences, expertise and knowledge.
Recipients will be honoured in a virtual/in-person awards ceremony in December.
Mino Bimaadiziwin Award (Indigenous Award): Translating to “living the good life,” this award is for those whose efforts have made significant contributions to the well-being and advancement of the Urban Indigenous Communities in Toronto. Open to residents of Toronto or non-profit organizations that provide a program or service for Indigenous residents. Preference will be given to person(s) with lived experience as an Indigenous person.
Disability Access Award: Given to a person, group, or organization that has made a significant contribution towards improving access for people with disabilities in Toronto. Open to residents of Toronto or non-profit organizations that provide a program or service for Toronto residents, which have demonstrated exceptional leadership to advance equity and inclusion of people with disabilities in Toronto and have shown a commitment to accessibility and disability rights through creating or leading community-based programs or services that strive to identify, prevent and remove barriers faced by people with disabilities in Toronto.
Constance E. Hamilton Award for Women’s Equality: Given to a person or organization who has made a significant contribution to improving the social, economic, cultural and political status of women and gender non-conforming people in Toronto and who has encouraged others in their efforts to achieve equality and to remove barriers. Open to residents of Toronto or non-profit organizations.
Pride Award: Honours a person, group or non-profit organization that has made a significant or on-going contribution to the well-being, advancement and inclusion of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in Toronto. Open to residents of Toronto or non-profit organizations. Preference will be given to person(s) with lived experience as a 2SLGBTQ+ community member.
William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award: Awarded to a resident or organization that has made a significant contribution to challenge racism and support a more harmonious city. Open to residents of Toronto or non-profit organizations that provide a program or service for Toronto residents. Eligible candidates include those who have not attained a high profile within the community or professionals in the field. Preference will be given to person(s) with lived experience as a racialized person(s).
Further information, past recipients and full eligibility criteria is available on each individual award page.
Applications for the 2023 Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards are open until October 1, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
Nominations may be submitted on behalf of an individual or an organization, be self-submitted or submitted on behalf of another individual/group (with their consent).
Please have the following information ready when completing the online application form:
Once you begin the online application form, it is not possible to save your work and return to your application after exiting the form.
After you have submitted the application form, you will receive a prompt to complete an optional sociodemographic survey. This short, anonymous and confidential survey will help the City to better assess the reach of this initiative, particularly for Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups, as well as any opportunities to further improve and increase awareness of the awards.
If you require an alternative application format, please contact EquityUnit@toronto.ca.
In 2022, the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards were paused in order in order to review the awards process and categories to ensure that achievements are recognized in a way that is meaningful to the communities they are designed to serve. Feedback offered by community, via online survey, showed that the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards are meaningful to communities and that improvements should be implemented to raise awareness of the awards as well as make them more impactful, more accessible, and more aligned with how diverse communities want to be recognized.
Based on feedback received, some of the changes implemented for the 2023 Access, Equity and Human rights Awards include:
Feedback will continue to be implemented and reviewed on an ongoing basis, including for future editions of the Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards. Send your feedback to EquityUnit@toronto.ca.