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Contest Rules

Here’s everything you need to know before submitting your entry, including eligibility, categories, prizes, and contest rules.

Choose Your Category

Art, Design & Photography

This category includes both traditional (handmade) and digital work, as well as photography.

You can choose the medium that fits your idea best.

Accepted formats include:

  • Traditional media: Drawing, painting, collage, mixed media (e.g., pencil, markers, acrylic, watercolour)
  • Digital art & design: Illustrations, graphic design, digital posters, or other computer-created work
  • Digital Photography: Original photos taken by you (edited or unedited)

Guidelines:

For physical work:

  • Letter (216 × 279 mm) or Tabloid (279 × 432 mm)
  • Portrait or landscape orientation

Digital submissions:

  • High-quality image or file (e.g., JPG, PNG, or PDF)

Video & Multimedia

This category includes video, audio, and multi-media projects.

You can use any format that helps you communicate your idea clearly.

Accepted formats include:

  • Video: Short films, interviews, spoken word, animations, or visual storytelling
  • Audio & music: Original songs, instrumental pieces, podcasts, or spoken word recordings
  • Mixed media: Combinations of video, audio, text, or visuals

Guidelines:

  • Size: Up to 768 MB
  • Format: MP3 (audio); MP4, GIF, MKV, MOV, and WEBM (video)
  • Quality: Clear audio and visuals so your message is easy to understand

Writing

This category includes any form of written expression.

You can choose a style that fits your voice and idea.

Accepted formats include:

  • Essays or reflections
  • Poetry or spoken word (written form)
  • Short stories or creative writing

Guidelines:

  • Length: Up to 1,500 words
  • File Format: PDF Only
  • Language: English and/or French

Number of entries : Each participant is limited to one (1) submission during the contest period. Please note that submissions will not be returned.

Privacy Reminder

Protect your privacy and others’. Avoid including:

Home addresses

School names or identifiable locations

Personal information (yours or someone else’s)

If other people appear in your work, make sure you have their permission.

Contest Rules

Evaluation Criteria

All eligible submissions will be featured in the mosaic on the contest’s website and evaluated by representatives of the Council based on the following criteria:

Adherence to the contest’s themes

Creativity and Originality: The uniqueness and inventiveness of the submission.

Technical Skill: Mastery of the medium.

Overall Impression: The overall impact, coherence, and completeness of the submission, including its ability to evoke feeling and thought.

Submissions may include a brief accompanying description (no more than 250 words) to assist with the evaluation of the submission.

Content Restrictions

Be aware of what you include in your submission. The Council may invalidate any submissions that fall under the following categories:

Brand names and logos (e.g., sports teams, businesses, restaurants, or café chains);

Offensive, discriminatory, or inappropriate content, including but not limited to nudity, vulgarity, or violence as well as portraying any individual or group (based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability) in a stereotypical or negative manner. Personal attacks or defamatory statements against individuals are strictly prohibited.

Political messaging or advocacy, including references to geopolitical conflicts or sensitive global events that may be considered inflammatory, polarizing, or divisive.

Active Court Cases: Since all eligible submissions will be published in the mosaic, avoid commenting ongoing trials to protect the integrity of the judicial process.

Encouraging Illegal Acts: Content should not glorify or encourage the violation of current laws, regardless of your position.

Misinformation: Entries that spread misinformation about the Canadian legal system shall be disqualified.

Submissions not created by the participant: Submissions have to be the original, creative work of the participant. Plagiarized submissions will be disqualified from the contest.

Any submission deemed by the Council, in its sole discretion, to violate these rules will be automatically disqualified. The Council reserves the right to disqualify submissions that contain content considered inflammatory or inconsistent with the spirit of the contest.

Eligibility

This contest is open to all young people residing in Canada who will be between 15 and 18 years of age at the time of submission. No purchase is necessary.

Each participant is limited to one (1) submission during the contest period. Participants must select one of the three available categories:

  • Art, Design & Photography
  • Video & Multimedia
  • Writing

Logistics & Fees

  • The Council will not reimburse any costs incurred by participants who are responsible for all costs related to their participation.
  • The Council is not responsible for lost or damaged submissions.
  • Original artwork will not be returned unless prior arrangements have been made in writing.

Rules and Terms

  • While participants retain copyright in the works submitted, by taking part in the contest they grant the Council the right to reproduce, publish, display and use the works in all media and by all means of distribution, without time limit or compensation.
  • By entering the contest, participants acknowledge that they have read the contest rules and that they agree to comply with them.
  • Personal information provided by candidates will be used by the Council solely for administrative purposes in connection with the contest.
  • The Contest is not open to members or employees of the Council, or members of their families.
  • The results will be announced on the Council’s website on [date].
  • Prizes will be given to the winners by [date].
  • Prizes must be accepted as is and may not be exchanged, reimbursed, sold or transferred. No substitutions will be permitted.
  • If it is impossible to provide a prize exactly as described in these rules, the Council reserves the right to substitute an equivalent prize or item, at its complete discretion.
  • Refusal to accept a prize, in whole or in part, releases the Council from any obligation to the winner.
  • If the Council determines (at its complete discretion) that a work violates the contest rules, the work will be automatically disqualified from the contest.
  • The Council’s decisions concerning all aspects of the contest, including but not limited to all decisions on the eligibility or disqualification of participants or works, are final and binding for all participants, with no right of appeal.
  • The Council reserves the right to cancel or suspend the contest at its sole discretion, for any reason whatsoever without any obligation of compensation to any party in any way. No damages or compensation may be claimed.
  • The Council reserves the right to change, without notice, the contest rules, the prizes or any terms. All changes made to the contest rules will be posted on the Council’s website.
  • Participants must be the author of their submission, and they must own all rights to the submission and obtain the consent of any people appearing in it.
  • All submissions must be original works created solely by the contest participant. Submissions must not infringe upon any reputation rights, image rights, copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights of third parties.
  • By making a submission to the contest, participants agree that the Council is not responsible for any infringements, including copyright infringements, that might arise in Canada or for any litigation that might ensue from such infringements. The burden of determining that no material violates applicable laws, including copyright, trademark, rights of privacy, publicity, reputation rights, or any other proprietary rights rests with the participant. The participant shall bear the sole liability for any damage resulting from any infringement, including of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission.
  • Participants who make submissions consent, without compensation or time limitation, to let the Council use, reproduce, publish, transmit and disseminate their names, submissions, and information about their awards in any publication or promotion activity, to promote the contest or the prize recipients.
  • All participants release the Council, their respective personnel, and any party acting on their behalf from any liability for damage of any kind resulting directly or indirectly from their participation or attempted participation in the contest.
  • Selected winners may be required to show proof of age and of residence in Canada. Winners that have not reached the age of majority in their province will also be required to show proof of parental consent.

What Could You Win?

To reward creativity and thoughtful effort, the Council will select one winner in each category, with each winner receiving a prize in recognition of their outstanding work.

Selected winners will receive:

A $250 CAD cash prize, and

A certificate of achievement signed by the Chief Justice of Canada and Chairperson of the Council, the Right Honourable Richard Wagner.

Questions?

If you are unsure about the rules or have questions about the admissibility of your submission, we're here to help.

Contact Us

Ready to Enter?

Submit your work and become part of the Voices in Mosaic.

Enter the Contest