The 2020 COPA Entry Rules have been posted and it will include this year a special COVID-19 news coverage category that will be free to enter by any any online publisher. They have adapted this year’s awards to reflect the current times as many publishers are seeing a soft advertising market. 

There is hope for a sharp rebound in advertising for all the publishers, but we are experiencing the sharpest economic contraction of our generation that will be followed by an uneven recovery according to the BDC. It may take in the form of a “V”, “U” or “L” shape highlighting best and worst case scenarios. We are hopeful for a “U” shape recovery in the advertising market by the fall, but some may experience a “L” shape depending on the industry sector.

The eligibility requirements for the 2020 COPAs will be any content our ad campaign produced between October 1, 2019 and  Sept 30, 2020 can enter the 2020 COPAs. The entry fees this year have been lowered to $75, with the early bird at $50. Independent publishers, non-profits, ethnic media and freelance journalists can enter for $50. The Best COVID-19 News Coverage Category will be free to any publisher to enter and Academic institutions will be able to enter 1 free entry.

2020 SCHEDULE

The 2020 COPAs schedule has been changed this year and the following is the process for this year. The Call for Judges will begin in May and the entry categories will be released on June 1 with the Call for Entries beginning in July 1. The entry deadline will be September 30 to allow sufficient time for companies to participate and rebound from the crisis. The Early Bird deadline will be August 14.

Call for Judges; May 1, 2020

Call for Entries: July 1, 2020

Early Bird Deadline: August 14, 2020

Entry Deadline: September 30, 2020

Finalist Announcement: December 1, 2020

COPA Awards: January (TBA)

INTERESTED IN BEING A JUDGE

The the public call for Judges is now open, if you are an industry expert in publishing with 10 years of experience in advertising, media or you have some tech skills we would like to hear from you. You can submit you name for consideration at this link.

LOWER COST TO ENTER

The cost to enter will also be lower as freelancers and independent publishers will now be able to enter for a rate of $50 and the regular rate will be $75. The Early Bird rate will be $50. Schools in the Academic category will still receive one free entry. There will be a special COVID-19 news category that will be free to enter. There will also be a Judge’s Nominations, where judges can enter one entry at no cost

OPEN TO ANY COMPANY

The COPAs has evolved over the last 12 years as the leading Canadian Awards program for digital excellence and has 5 categories. Academic, B2B, B2C, News and Ethnic media that was introduced in 2019. The COPAs are open to any company that publishes in Canada and you do not have to be a member of any industry association.

The winners of the COPAs for 2019 were awarded last night over a 10 course dinner party event at Dim Sum King in Toronto that saw Hakai Magazine win 6 Gold and 3 silver. Hakai Magazine is based in Victoria, BC and explores science, society, and the environment from a coastal perspective. HuffPost Canada won 6 medals with 3 Gold and 3 Silvers. Bell Media won 5 with 2 Gold and 3 Silver. The event was broadcast live on Twiiter through the #mastheadmag and #COPAwards hashtags

Who was the Best of the Best?

The best of of the best competition from all the entries saw the following results for the Best of Canada. Gold was won by Hakai Magazine for Best Digital Content for their investigative article on Human Smuggling and Silver went to Local Love /United Way.

The Gold for Best Publication was awarded to a surprise winner Fête Chinoise an entry in the new Ethnic Media Division, an upscale lifestyle publication for the Chinese community. Silver was won by Vancouver Magazine.

The Best Digital Solution Gold went to Top Hat for their cloud based teaching resources website for the post secondary market and silver was won by Hakai Magazine. The Independent publisher of the year Gold award went to Hakai Magazine with the Local Love/United Way winning silver.

Entries in French saw Roast Battle Le Grand Duel a comedy website win Gold that is produced by Comediha and HuffPost Quebec winning Gold on the use use of IUDs for Best Service Article. RDS won two silver for their coverage of the NHL Trade Deadline ( Best News Coverage) and the Raptors (Best Sports Feature).

The COPA Awards through its partnership with News Canada and their members saw two community news publications win Silver. Soo Today, part of the Village Media network won silver for its article on Steel Mills for Best Continuing coverage of News story and Grand and Gorgeous a publication produced by the Wellington Advertiser win silver for Best Print and Digital Publication that came in a very close second with Vancouver Magazine that won Gold.

Ryerson University won Gold in the Best Interactive/Inforgraphic category on Hong Kong (Students from Ryerson)

The Academic division saw Carleton University win 3 Golds in one of the most competitive competitions to date with entries from 9 schools that included BCIT Students Association, McGill, Queens, Ryerson, Sheridan College, UBC, University of King’s College and York University.

University Affairs was the big winner in the B2B Division with 4 mdeals with 3 Gold and 1 silver, followed by a bunch of winners with two medals each Annex Media (2 Gold), CPA Canada (Gold and Silver), Laywers Weely (Gold and Silver), Remi Network (2 Silver)

For a compete list winners click here