By Staff
May 2nd, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON’
The City of Burlington is introducing a new civic recognition initiative to celebrate the individuals and groups who volunteer to make Burlington better.
Civic recognition will be awarded twice each year, in the spring and fall. The application period for spring civic recognition nominations is open now until May 30 at burlington.ca/civicrecognition.
How to submit a nomination
Nominating an individual or group is easy.
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This is going to be a low budget item with zip imagination put into it. why bother?
- Review the civic recognition criteria. Nominated individuals or groups will have demonstrated a high level of achievement in one of the following areas:
- Contributed significantly to the quality of life in the community through volunteer efforts
- Identified and addressed a priority need in the community and put a solution into action
- Achieved provincial, national, or international recognition and, in doing so, have brought honour to the City of Burlington
- Review the civic recognition eligibility. To be eligible, nominees must:
- Be a resident of Burlington or own a Burlington business
- Not currently hold political office
- Have contributed on a volunteer basis
- Primarily serve the residents of Burlington
- Not be a City employee or elected official nominated for their work as a City employee or elected official. City projects are also not eligible for an award.
- Complete the online nomination form by May 30, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Multiple nominations from the same person are accepted. Please fill out one nomination form per nominee.
Civic Recognition awards
All nominations will be evaluated by an independent selection committee made up of volunteer members from the City’s Advisory Committees. There is no limit to the number of individuals or groups who can receive recognition.
A celebration to recognize successful recipients will be held in person at an evening Council meeting on June 24, 2024.
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Will recipients of the award get an attractive piece of art or a paper certificate? And, is it time for a new artist to do these items.
Through the years, the City has had a variety of programs designed to celebrate and recognize community champions including Burlington’s Best, which ran from 2012 to 2019.
- In 2021 City Council directed staff to report back with options for resident recognition programs or events.
- In 2022, input from the public was gathered through a survey on getinvolvedburlington.ca asking for input on the best way to recognize volunteers for their contributions to the community.
- Feedback shared through the survey informed a report that went to Council on Nov. 1, 2023. This report included a recommendation for the current civic recognition initiative which was approved by Council.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward: “The City of Burlington has amazing residents who do incredible work in serving and supporting our community. Civic Recognition gives Council the chance to acknowledge these selfless individuals and how they have changed our city for the better. On behalf of Council, we look forward to shining a spotlight on these remarkable individuals who make a positive difference in our community.”
Samantha Yew, City Clerk reports that “Through the public engagement we did with the community, we learned many of these amazing volunteers prefer not to be recognized with a big event. They told us the work they do is the true reward. To honour this spirit, we are excited to introduce a new approach to civic recognition where we can express our thanks in a more relaxed and informal setting.”
Hopefully the many people who dig in on a topic of interest to residents, who spend countless hours preparing delegations and then have to take time off work to delegate during COB’s revised meeting times, will be nominated and then considered.