Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes
Two Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, in the amount of $50,000 each, are awarded annually to distinguished individuals (one in the arts and one in the social sciences and humanities). The prizes are intended to encourage continuing contributions to the cultural and intellectual heritage of Canada.
The prizes are funded by an endowment from the Molson Foundation, and they are administered by the Canada Council for the Arts in cooperation with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The laureates are chosen by a peer assessment committee, which is appointed jointly by the Canada Council and the SSHRC.
Eligibility
Candidates may not apply for a Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize: they must be nominated.
Eligible Nominators
Candidates must be nominated by three individuals or three organizations, or a combination. Anyone or any organization with an interest in, and capacity for, nominating appropriate individuals is eligible to do so.
Eligible Candidates
Molson prizes cannot be awarded posthumously. Candidates must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
To be nominated, candidates must have made a substantial and distinguished contribution over a significant period. In the words of the deed of the gift, the prizes are intended “to encourage Canadians of outstanding achievement in the fields of the Arts, the Humanities or the Social Sciences to make further contribution to the cultural or intellectual heritage of Canada....” These terms of reference are interpreted as follows:
- candidates must have clearly demonstrated “outstanding achievement” in order to be nominated, and
- “further contribution” indicates that the candidates should still be very active and productive.
In other words, the prize is not intended as an “end of service” reward or as recognition for one great accomplishment. Past assessment committees have been quite consistent in choosing laureates who are close to the top of an outstanding career.
The prizes are accessible to Aboriginal people and those from diverse cultural and regional communities who meet the eligibility requirements.
Ineligible Candidates
These prizes are for individuals: corporations and other organizations are not eligible for consideration.
Members of the board of the Canada Council for the Arts or the Social Sciences and Hunanities Research Council of Canada are not eligible during their term as board members, and for six months following the end of their term.
A candidate is not eligible for the prize if either the candidate or the nominator has failed to submit a final report or financial accounting for a previous Canada Council grant or prize.
No individual may be awarded the prize more than once.
Nomination Deadline
1 December 2006
Nominations and all required support documentation (including letters of support) must be postmarked before or on the deadline date. If this date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
The Canada Council will not accept late nominations or nominations submitted by fax or email. Submissions that are missing any of the required support documentation or that do not meet the requirements will not be accepted.
Nomination Process
Nominators are responsible for gathering the relevant documentation, including support letters, and sending it to the Canada Council. All nominations, whether for individuals in the arts or the social sciences and humanities, must be sent to the Canada Council for the Arts.
Support Documentation
The quality of the documentation, including credible support letters submitted in support of the nomination, plays an important role in the peer assessment committee’s decision.
Nominators must submit the documentation outlined below and must ensure that the material is prepared exactly as described. The documentation must be submitted in the following order:
- One joint letter of nomination signed by the three principal nominators, or three separate letters of nomination. Letters must include the name, full address, telephone number, fax number and email address of each nominator
- A brief description (a maximum of two pages) of the nature of the nominee’s distinguished contributions to his or her field, including why he or she should be considered an outstanding candidate for the prize (this may be part of the nominators’ letter)
- The category for the nomination (social sciences, humanities or the arts)
- A one-page biography of the nominee, summarizing his or her education, distinguished achievements, current professional activities, and honours or awards received
- The nominee’s current curriculum vitae, including a list of publications and/or professional activities, as appropriate to this nominee
- The nominee’s full home and office addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses
- Support letters (in English or French) from a maximum of six experts, in Canada or abroad. If any of the letters are translated from another language, the originals must also be submitted. It is the responsibility of the nominator to ensure that support letters are post-marked before on or 1 December 2006
- Proof that the nominee is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, and
- A maximum of six photocopy-quality support items from sources other than the nominee (for example, newspaper articles). Each item may be up to four pages in length, in French or English, and must be submitted on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper. If any item is translated from another language, the original should also be submitted.
All support documentation referred to above must be letter-sized (8 ½ x 11 inches) and loose-leaf. The Canada Council will not accept bound materials (for example, stapled, cerlox bound or spiral bound) because they are difficult to copy and mail to peer assessment committee members.
Neither the Canada Council nor the SSHRC is responsible for the loss or damage, whatever the cause, of support documentation.
The Canada Council will not return support material to nominators.
Resubmissions
At the request of the principal nominator or nominators, a nomination may be resubmitted once, to the next competition deadline after the original submission deadline. In this case, the nominators must send a letter to the Canada Council for the Arts to ask that this be done and must forward an updated curriculum vitae for the nominee (before or on the competition deadline).
Selection Procedure
A multidisciplinary peer assessment committee will choose the two laureates. Members of the committee are chosen to ensure fair representation of gender, Canada’s two official languages, the various regions and cultures of Canada, and various types of artistic and scholarly disciplines.
Committee members are among the most accomplished individuals in their respective fields and, ideally, have interests that extend beyond the confines of a single discipline.
Notification of Results
The Canada Council for the Arts will notify laureates, in writing, of their selection approximately four months after the nomination deadline. The Canada Council will also notify all nominators, in writing, of the result of their nomination. Except for the notification of laureates, the Canada Council does not contact nominees.
The results are normally made public, by a news release each spring. Results are not released over the telephone or by email.
Conditions of Receiving the Award
Prize recipients must agree to allow photographs and public information about themselves to be used for promotion of the prizes and in other Canada Council promotional initiatives. They must also agree to participate fully in all award activities, including media conferences, ceremonies and receptions.
Recipients and nominators may not reveal the results of the competition until the Canada Council makes its official announcement.
Confidentiality of Information
The Privacy Act protects the personal information of individuals and provides them with a right of access to such information about themselves. The Canada Council for the Arts maintains personal information in Personal Information Bank CAC PPU 025. All other information may be accessible under the Access to Information Act.
On a confidential basis, the Canada Council may share information related to applications and awards with officials in other arts and cultural industry funding agencies, to assist with program planning and application evaluation.
Recent Molson Prize Laureates (2002-06)
2006 – Nicole Brossard, novelist and essayist Henry Mintzberg, professor and management expert, McGill University
2005 – Iain Baxter (a.k.a. IAIN BAXTER&), photographer, painter, sculptor, and installation and conceptual artist
Ramsay Cook, historian and general editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography
2004 – Maria Campbell, author, playwright, filmmaker and professor Richard Tremblay, professor and researcher
2003 – Walter Boudreau, conductor, composer, musician and artistic director Janice Stein, professor and specialist in international relations
2002 – Christopher Newton, actor, director and artistic director Margaret Lock, professor and medical anthropology pioneer
Further Information
Further information about the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes can be obtained from Janet Riedel Pigott, Acting Director, Endowments and Prizes. General information about prizes and awards is available on the Canada Council website.
Canada Council for the Arts
P.O. Box 1047, 350 Albert Street
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 5041 or 4116
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613-565-5194
Fax: 613-566-4430
August 2006