Updated for 2024 — The 47th annual National Magazine Awards competition will be open as of December 1, 2023 to Canadian print and digital magazines and to Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents (landed immigrants) whose work has appeared in them during the 2023 calendar year.
For this competition, the NMAF’s guiding principle for magazine publishing is that the publication—whether print or digital—must:
- Self-describe as a magazine;
- Have a permanent editorial staff in Canada;
- Be published in English, French, or a combination of both languages;
- Be editorial in nature (that is, it must have and submit a clear editorial mandate);
- Be the product of an editorial process.
The NMAF reserves the right for its judges to decide whether a publication qualifies as a magazine.
All submissions must satisfy the following rules:
1. Eligible content for the 2024 awards year:
- Original work which appears in a 2023 issue;
- Original work which appears in the December 2023–January 2024 issue of a bi-monthly magazine is eligible;
- A single issue dated January or Winter 2023 is eligible, even if it appeared on newsstands prior to January 2023;
- Submissions from digital magazines must be original work that was first published during the 2023 calendar year.
NOT Eligible for the 2024 awards year:
- Original work which appears in the December 2022–January 2023 issue of a bi-monthly magazine;
- Original work which appears in the December 2022–March 2023 issue of a quarterly magazine;
- A single issue dated January or Winter 2024* (even if it appears on the newsstand in 2023).
*In the case of a split issue dated Fall/Winter 2023/2024, magazines may choose to enter the content for the 2023–2024 awards year OR the 2024–2025 awards year, but not both.
2. The NMAF requires that all submitters disclose sponsored content on the entry form.
Sponsored content is defined as editorial content financially supported by an external sponsor, but produced independently from that sponsor. Sponsored content is eligible for awards, provided that the submitter affirms that no third party exerted an influence on or played a role in the editorial process (including but not limited to research, reporting, writing, content and image creation, editing). The NMAF entrusts its judges with the final decision as to whether sponsored content should be considered for an award.
3. Awards are intended for Canadian content creators (citizens and permanent residents/landed immigrants). As such:
- Awards for illustration are limited to Canadian illustrators. Additionally, the work submitted must have been commissioned by the magazine.
- Awards for photography are limited to Canadian photographers. Previously published photos and stock photography are not accepted, except in the Editorial category of the Cover Grand Prix.
- Awards for art direction are open to Canadian art directors and their staff or freelance associates;
- Awards for writing are open to Canadian staff or Canadian freelance contributors;
- Awards for editorial categories are open to Canadian editors, art directors, and freelance contributors;
- While the main creators credited for an entry must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents/landed immigrants, other credited contributors may be non-Canadian.
4. Excerpts, serializations or condensations from books or books in progress are inadmissible, except when the writer’s/photographer’s work originated as a print or digital publication assignment and was primarily financed by the publication and edited as the publication’s own copy.
5. Work entered as Fiction is not eligible for entry in other categories.
6. Except where stated, there is no limit on the number of entries submitted per category. Finalists will be proportionate to the number of entries submitted in a category up to a maximum of ten finalists.
7. No entries will be returned.
8. All submissions must be accompanied by permission, not for sale or profit, to use the entries of finalists in the Awards presentation program, blog, website and social media, and to include any winning entry in perpetuity in the award archives on the Foundation’s website. The Foundation reserves the right to use the entries of finalists in the Awards presentation program/exhibit/digital book/website, but not for sale or profit.
9. Entries that do not conform to the rules or fit category definitions may be disqualified without notice. Entry fees for disqualified or withdrawn submissions will not be refunded.
10. A minimum of three (3) submissions must be received in a category for a judging panel of judges to be convened. The NMAF also reserves the right to cancel any category in which the jury decides no entry is of sufficient quality to merit an award. In the event that a category is cancelled, entry fees will be refunded to submitters.
11. If there is a tie for Gold in a creator-focused category, the $1000 cash prize will be split between the two creators.
12. For the categories listed below, entries will be accepted through all three of the National Media Awards Foundation’s programs (Digital Publishing Awards, National Magazine Awards, and National Magazine Awards: B2B). All entries will be evaluated by a single panel of judges. Categories include:
- Best Editorial Newsletter
- Best Podcast: Current Affairs
- Best Podcast: Arts, Culture and Society
- Best Online Video: Short
- Best Online Video: Feature
- Best Online Video: Mini-Doc
- Best Arts & Culture Storytelling
- Best Science & Technology Storytelling
13. The decision of the judges will be final.