Overview
The Community Award celebrates British Columbians who go above and beyond in their dedication and service to others. It honours individuals who devote their time and energy to making their communities more caring, dynamic, beautiful, healthy and inclusive.
Categories
The nominee’s contributions must have taken place in British Columbia either through volunteer or professional work in areas including, but not limited to:
- Arts and Culture
- Business Innovation
- Civic Duty/Public Service
- Communications/Media
- Education
- Environment/Conservation
- Healthcare
- Multiculturalism
- Science & Technology
- Sports and Recreation
- Volunteer Service
- Youth or Seniors' Leadership
Why Nominate
The Award program provides an opportunity to publicly acknowledge the transformative efforts of individuals who raise the quality and character of their community and, in doing so, inspire others to do the same.
Who is Eligible
- Any current or former long-term resident of British Columbia is eligible
- Posthumous or self-nominations are not eligible
- Elected representatives are not eligible for nominations while they hold office
- Nominations of groups (three or more people) or organizations are not eligible
Selection of Awardees
An independent jury panel of community leaders from throughout British Columbia reviews the nominations and selects the awardees. The decision of the independent jury is final.
Recognition of Awardees
Awardees are recognized at a formal ceremony held in Victoria. The Lieutenant Governor and a representative of the BC Achievement Foundation are invited to present the awardees with the Community Award Medallion, designed by Robert Davidson, along with a certificate, lapel pin and letter from the Premier of BC recognizing their achievements.
Dates to Remember
- October 1, 2019 – Nominations OPEN
- January 31, 2020 – Nominations CLOSE
All nominations must be submitted online by January 31, 2020 (all materials must be received by 11:59 pm).
Complete the online Nomination form and submit the following information:
- A Nomination Letter from the nominator detailing the contributions of the nominee and reasons for the nomination (500 word maximum).
- A brief ‘Biography’ statement about the nominee (500 word maximum); it should include an outline/summary of the nominee’s background information as it relates to the nomination; or a copy of the nominee’s resume).
- Two Letters of Support for the nominee from other individuals or organizations that describe the value and impact of the nominee’s contributions.
- Optional: include up to a maximum of five additional documents about the nominee (i.e. letters, awards, newspaper clippings, YouTube & website links, etc.).
Visit Resources to download the guide for the Community Award program, “Tips for a Compelling Nomination”.
Please note:
- All nominations are valid for three years including the first year of nomination and two subsequent years and should be updated annually throughout the process.
- Nominations are kept confidential between the nominator and BC Achievement.
- Nominees are notified only if selected for an award.
1. What should be said in a Nomination Letter?
The Nomination Letter should be expansive about the contributions of the nominee; the length of time the nominee has contributed; and how important the contribution is to the community (500 word maximum). Please visit our Resources page for additional tips.
2. To whom should Nomination and Letters of Support be addressed?
Letters should be addressed to the Selection Committee.
3. What should a letter of support contain?
A letter of support should indicate: the relationship between the author and the nominee and the length of the relationship; details about the nominator’s knowledge of the nominee’s contribution and their impact on the community (500 word maximum).
4. Can more than two letters of support be submitted?
The nominator has the option to submit additional documents (up to a maximum of five).
5. Are congratulatory letters from other programs accepted in the nomination package?
Other congratulatory letters may be included as additional material but they may not serve as letters of support. Letters of support must be current and be specific to the nomination for the Community Award.
6. Is a nomination package considered for more than one year?
Yes. Submitted nomination packages begin a three-year program, during which time the information can be reviewed by up to three juries. Nominators are given the opportunity to update their nomination each year prior to review by the independent jury panel.
7. Are contributions that occur outside of British Columbia recognized?
The Community Award is designed for contributions made in British Columbia.
8. Should the nominator tell the nominee about the nomination?
Generally, the nominee is not told of the nomination though in some cases it happens when the nominator requires biographical information, for example, from the nominee.
9. When are awardees notified and where are the names of the awardees published?
Awardees are notified by mid-March. Their names are published on BC Achievement’s website and social media channels.
10. Is it possible to nominate a group or organization?
These awards are designed to recognize individuals or two-person partnerships. Nominations of groups (3+ people) are not eligible.
2019 Awardees
- Beth Applewhite
- Don Bassermann
- Neil Brewer
- Evelyn (Eve) Corlett
- Katherine Dodds
- Polla Eid
- Maureen Fraser
- Jessie Ann Gamble
- Ming Gin
- Gunther & Nancy Golinia
- Leona Green
- Linda Helm
- Janet Johnston
- Kenneth Kjenstad
- Margaret Lidkea
- Jeffrey Lott
- Dr. Biju Matthew
- Sandra McPherson
- Sukhmeet Sachal
- Lyda Salatian
- Lindy Steele
- Katrin Taylor
- Vivian Trethewey
- Arnold Trewhitt
- Ellen Woodsworth (2019 Mitchell Award)
2018 Awardees
- Kevin Albers
- Joyce Babula
- Lolly Bennett
- Sukhi Brar
- Margo Dent
- Chris Gadsden
- Patricia Grue
- Terri Hanen
- Shirley Henry
- Geraldine Hinton
- Doug Hopwood
- Sgt. Jag Khosa
- James (Jim) Lamond
- Paddy Macleod
- William (Bill) Milsom
- Josephine Mitchell
- Charles Newton
- Mary O'Neill
- Jerrilyn Schembri
- Aart Schuurmann Hess
- Min Sidhu
- Jeff Swann
- Lisa Tallio
- Kim van der Woerd (2018 Mitchell Award)
- Pete Wise
- Andy Yu
2017 Awardees
- John & Sandra Barth
- Garry Benson
- Roger Bird
- Charles Brandt
- Melanie Cadden
- Daphne Cole
- Dorothy Durham
- Sardul S. Gill
- Joanne Greenwood
- Gerry Juzenas
- George Laverock ( 2017 Mitchell Award)
- Kenneth W. Lepin
- Krista Levar
- Anne McNabb
- William K. Milsom
- Tony Moore
- Dalvir Nahal
- Dr. Ralph Nilson
- Walter Paetkau
- Fred Robbins
- Birgit Sharman
- Barbara Stewart
- Carol Todd
- Lin Wei Tung
- Master Lian Tzi
- Thomas George Whipps
2016 Awardees
- George Akwasi Gyabaah
- Kathleen Barnard
- Haji Charania
- Ravneet Dhaliwal
- Kamal Dhillon
- Thomas Dielissen
- Brian Downie
- Judy Faistein
- Robin Fennell
- Dr. Jim Frankish
- Thor Froslev
- Karen Gilmore
- Raghwa Gopal
- John Hatchett
- Donald H.E. Hubbard
- Barbara Hulme
- Donald James, CM
- Jim Kincaid
- Ceilidh Millar
- Dr. Eliza Olson
- Dr. Bernadette Pauly
- John Pavelich
- Henry Pejril
- Ruth Peterson
- Alex Sangha
- "Oyster Jim" Martin & Barbara Schramm
- Dr. Harold (Hal) Siden
- Shelagh Turner
- David Young
- Dr. Jay Yule
2015 Awardees
- Farida Bano Ali
- Sue Bauman
- Richard (Wayne) Beckett
- Anne Bethune
- Howard Blank
- Alexander (Sandy) Burpee
- Pam Craig
- Mavis DeGirolamo
- Victoria Dobbyn
- Louis Druehl
- Tanya Fabrichnikova
- Per Gjerde
- Lawrence Haiducu
- Judy Jackson
- Jack Keough
- Dr. Jim Kirkpatrick
- Dr. Robert Krell
- Wanda Laughlin
- Beth & Darren Laur
- Donald Lindsay
- Gordon Marks
- J. Reid Maxwell
- John McLernon
- Tom Moffat
- Emily Molnar
- Maryann Ouellet
- Karen Pruim
- Dr. Tom Routledge
- Christopher Seguin
- Colin Smith
- Agnes Snow
- Greg Timm
- Bob Uden
- Cindy Wilgosh
2014 Awardees
- Selen Alpay
- Cathy Ashurst
- Amrik Singh Aulakh
- Donald Brown
- Helen Clifton
- Lynnette Cobb
- John D'Eathe
- Allan De Geneova
- Judy Dix
- Wayne Duzita
- Dr. Michael Feller
- Keith Gibson
- Daphne Goode
- Deanna Hamilton
- Jill Hayward
- Carol Hunt
- Valerie Ingram
- Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater
- Bessie Lee
- Larry & Morgan Leung
- Jason Min
- Michael McCoy
- Ethel Smith
- Marilin States
- Fred Titcomb
- Germain Vigneault
- Pat Wahlstrom
- Dr. Miriam Yu
2013 Awardees
- Dr. Jeanette Armstrong
- Patricia Blair
- Helen Boyd
- Mel Coulson
- Douglas Crow
- John De Frost
- Mary Forbes
- Jean Gelwicks
- Afraj Gill
- Leonora Gregory-Collura
- Kathy Holmes
- Kelly & Maggie Ip
- Mike Jang
- Ingrid Jeffrey
- Margo Kane
- Susan Lane
- Chief Jason Louie
- Tom Lymberry
- Dr. James McEwen
- Lennette McLean
- John McQuade
- Brianne Moore
- Libby Nelson
- Janet Renquist
- Sherri Robinson
- Amiolla Sabzevari
- Donald Shumka
- Marnie Simon
- Karen stacey
- Andrea Thomas Hill
- Catherine Van Alstine
- Sing Lim Yeo
2012 Awardees
- Ron Antalke
- Dr. Roger H. Barnsely
- Catherine Belleau
- Jerome Bouvier
- Michael Chiu
- Ellen & Russ Cmolik
- Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia & Sergio Cocchia
- Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins
- Ambo Dhaliwal
- David Dickson
- Dr. Andrew Eisen
- Vickie Cammack & Al Etmanski
- Joyce Fraser
- Lorna Gibbs
- Anne Hebert
- Werner Heine
- Romi Chandra Herbert
- Debra Hewson
- Larry Jorgenson
- David Sanghyuck Kim
- Kelly Klein
- Alan Markwart
- Joe Martin
- Mary McGhee
- Grace Elliot Nielson
- Virginia Russell
- Glen Saunders
- Leonard Schein
- Trevis (Wes) Sissons
- Brad Skeats
- Lori Slater
- Daphne Solecki
- Donna spencer
- Steven Wilson
- Wolfgang Zimmerman
2011 Awardees
- Edna Anderson
- Debra Arnott
- Peter Ash
- Jonhson Su-sing Chow
- Rose Colledge
- Tim Cormode
- Peter Couldwell
- Jim Davidson
- Alia Dharamsi
- Ron Emerson
- John deCourcey Evans
- Tanveer Gill
- Sheila Gilmour
- Chris Grauer
- Judy Hagen
- Paul Helpard
- Brain Hutchinson
- John Jennings
- Tewanee Joseph
- Darlene Kalawsky
- Kalliana King
- June Lam
- Silvano (Sam) Lenarduzzi
- Carlene Lewall
- Alice Maitland
- Pamela Mar
- Jeremy McCall
- Jim Milinia
- John Murphy
- John O'Fee
- Lui Passaglia
- Marc Pelech
- Bill Stewart
- Robert (Bob) Stewart
- Nettie Stupnikoff
- Tom Weegar
- Sheryl Williamson
2010 Awardees
- Cecilia Benoit
- Alan Boyd
- Gary Brown
- Alan Chell
- Melinda Cheung
- Jeff Clark & Miles Richie
- John (Jack) Collins
- Trevor Day
- Jane Dickson
- Edgar Dunning
- Mary Anne Eli
- Yuri Fulmer
- Charan Gill
- Virginia Greene
- Marjorie Groberman
- Corinne James & Ron Hadley
- Braunwyn Henwood
- George & Jane Hungerford
- Yasmin John-Thorpe
- Kayli Johnson
- Bert Kelly
- Joyce Lam
- Dave Lede
- Suneet Maan
- Muriel MacKay-Ross
- Audrey MacLise
- Barbara Maher
- Sarina Mawji
- Larry McHale
- Ann Meraw
- Paul Mitchell
- Richard Murakami
- Amanda Neil
- Kris Olsen
- Joan Richoz
- Pat Ronalds
- Eileen Scott
- Lynn Shervill
- Donna Stewart
- Gurdeep Sunder
- Donna May Thompson
- Jeannette Townsend
- Jagat (Jack) Uppal
- Jeff Vaughan
- Thomas & Wilma Wickham
2009 Awardees
- Ray Abernethy
- Tibor Baldauf
- Pamela Beech
- Roger Behn
- Alex Bracewell
- Jack Carlisle
- Joyce Carlson
- Sam Carter
- Dolly Cartwright
- Morna Edmundson
- Dareen Entwistle
- Brad Field
- Lori Fry
- Paul Gauthier
- Janette Glover-Geidt
- Gordon Hall
- Patrick Kelly
- Jim Kojma
- James MacCarthy
- Susan Maile
- William (Bill) McMichael
- Don Montgomery
- Dawn Nedzelski
- Nick Panos
- Connie Peters
- Majorie Phelps
- Marylynn Rakuson
- John Ridley
- Thomas (Arden) Robertson
- Muriel Stanley
- Joe Sullivan
- Sian Thomson
- Elizabeth Wolak
- Yosef Wosk
- Martin (Marty) Zlotnik
2008 Awardees
- Doug Adair
- Jennifer Atchison
- Gordon Barrett
- John Bergbush
- Jo Berry
- May Brown
- Judy Caldwell
- Ken Campbell
- Peggy Chute
- James Coyle
- Evelyn Cutts
- Tammy Dao
- Salina Dharamsi
- Jack Farley
- Ella Fraser
- Anna Fung, QC
- Mohindar Singh Gill
- Theresa Gladue
- Pam Glass
- Bill Hubbs
- Terry Hunter & Savannah Walling
- Dixie Jacobsen
- Diana Johnstone
- Lynn Newbery
- Yukman Lai
- Tom Malone
- Paul McDonell
- Melanie McKenzie
- James Chi Ming Pau
- Lilo Petermann
- Jude Platzer
- George Puil
- Brenda Reid-Keucks
- Daryle Roberts
- Ben Roy
- Leo Sabulsky
- Ron Silver
- Naomi Singer
- Arthur Skipsey
- Rob Sleath
- Madhu Varshney
- Garry Wall
- Vanessa West
- Chip Wilson
- Todd Wong
2007 Awardees
- Garry Anderson
- Darian Arman
- Pauline Arnouse
- Chuck Bailey
- Kuldeep Bains
- Edward (Ted) Barsby
- Don Benson
- Wayne Carlick
- Lois Carson Boyce
- William (Bill) Christie
- Isabelle Diamond
- Art Flaterud
- Margo Fryer
- Christopher Gaze
- Lois Godfrey
- Sandra Heydon
- Kerry Jang
- Esther & Martin Kafer
- Barbara Kaminsky
- Lily La Mer
- Gilbert Lam
- Alison Leamy
- Ben Wah Lee
- Bill Lynch
- Munro MacKenzie
- Gordon Mackie
- Edna Mason
- Sharon McCoubrey
- George McLean
- Jim McMynn
- Mike Murray
- Dr. John Nightingale
- Doris Paul
- Frédérique Philip
- Hitoshi (Tosh) Saito
- Audrey Salahub
- Baljit Sethi
- Phylis Simon
- Jim Taylor
- Steve Tuck
- Al Tysick
- Ellen White
- Liza Wolf
- Alexander Yule
2006 Awardees
- Lorne Atkinson
- Alvina Berggren
- Elspeth Bowers
- John Brink
- Stephanie Carlson
- Jan Christilaw
- Amy Cunningham
- Anita Dadson
- Dave Dickson
- Kate Dearden & Samantha Doney
- Bryan Dyck
- Jeneece Edroff
- Marce Fofonoff
- Jane Frost
- Choo Chiat Goth & Lin Yee Goh
- Marlene Grinnell
- Julie Haffnights
- Bruce Hallquist
- Russ Hammond
- Harry Hardy
- Esther Ho
- Yvonne Hopkins
- Simon Jackson
- Wendy Lai
- David Lamson
- Jean & Tom Leboe
- Matthew Low
- Judith Marcuse
- Peter Pelton
- Al Pullin
- Monty Raisinghani
- Rob Reid
- Art Reitmayer
- Dan Rodlie
- Noreen Rustad
- John Ryan
- Geordie Salle
- Marg Spina
- Linda Tanaka
- Jim Terrion Jr
- Hari Varshney
- Grace Wong
- Edmond Wright
2005 Awardees
- Arnold Amonson
- Kiran Aujlay
- Donna Barnett
- Gordon Bell
- Maureen Enser
- George Evans
- Enid Fraser
- Elaine Golds
- Gordon Gore
- Avtar Gosal
- Marion Hunt-Doig
- Beryl Itani
- Carolynn Janzer
- LaVerne Kindree
- Magdalen R. Leung
- Michelle Loughery
- George Magee
- Des McKay
- Donald McKenzie
- Laurae McNally
- Bill McNulty
- William "Bronco" Moncrief
- Patrick O'Reilly
- Jack Poole
- Gilbert Popovich
- Surinderpal Rathor
- Jacob Schuurman
- Dennis Skulsky
- Frazer Smith
- Chris Taulu
- Mary Toynbee
- John Van Spronsen
- Dick Voneugen
- Garry Watson
- Travis Wong
2004 Awardees
- Dot Andrews
- Kimberley Arthur-Leung
- Helen Bates
- Geoffrey Battersby
- Lucille Bell
- Bea Blackford
- Roland Brown
- Philip Pak-Yuen Chan
- Dr. Geoffrey Cowburn
- Uultsje De Jong
- Robert Dennis
- Barbara Der
- Betty Emery
- Johnny Fong
- Jim Fraser
- Sherrold Haddad
- Lt. Col. Pritam Singh Jauhal
- Lakhvinder Jhaj
- Anthony Kenyon
- Jack Lee
- Iain MacKay
- Anne Martin
- Brian Northup
- Deborah Palmer
- Bud Sakamoto
- Barry Scott
- Bob Scott
- Marc Searle
- Vera Seydel
- Steve Stewart
- Carol Walmsely
BC Achievement has many opportunities for engagement and we are actively seeking partnerships.
Please contact the Executive Director for further information.
[email protected]
