Don’t let Complacency Kill the Cat: Registration for the 2024 Canadian Young Lions Competition is now open!  

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 24, 2024

Registration for The Globe and Mail’s 2024 Canadian Young Lions Competition is now open until Sunday, February 11, 2024.   

In 2023, Canadian Young Lions finalists competed against 228 teams from 70 countries on the global stage in Cannes, France, exceeding all expectations. Young Lions Marketers, Mike Miura, and Ryan Grippo brought home Gold, while the Film team, Cory Hansen and Anthony Curran, won Silver. Two teams received shortlists: Thierry Lessard and Olivier Houle in Media, and Andronicus Wu and Jon Dawe in Digital. 

After an astounding 2023, there is excitement to see what this year in the competition brings. Over the weekend of March 2 to March 4, 2024, teams of 2 will participate in a live competition in one of 5 categories: Print, Film, Digital, Media, or Marketers. Gold winners of each category will have the opportunity to represent Canada at the Global Young Lions Competition in Cannes, France, to compete against Gold-winning teams from all over the world. For more information about The Globe and Mail’s Young Lions competition, visit the official competition website https://globeandmailyounglions.ca/  

Over competition weekend, entrants receive a brief and must complete the challenge for their respective category within a 24 or 48-hour time period. Submissions are judged by a panel of industry leaders within each category, with the Canadian Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners announced at the annual CMDC Summit in Toronto on April 24, 2024.  

In addition to being crowned as Canada’s best, Gold winning teams win a trip to Cannes, France, to compete against the best creative teams all over the world in the Global Young Lions Competition and attend the five-day International Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity from June 17 to 21, 2024, the largest gathering in the creative marketing community.  

As the Canadian Competition Representative, The Globe and Mail covers the cost of registration fees for the Global Young Lions Competition, Delegate Passes to the Festival of Creativity, and the cost of flights and accommodation to Cannes, France. Snapchat comes on board this year as the official 2024 Media Category Sponsor. 

Competition entries for the 2024 Cannes Young Lions Competitions are judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders, led by returning jury chairs Mary Maddever (Print/Digital/Film), Cathy Collier (Media) and Susan Irving (Marketers). To view the profiles of this year’s competition judges, visit this year's jury page

Young Lions Print and Film Jury 

  • Mary Maddever - EVP, Editorial Director - Brunico Communications – JURY CHAIR 

  • Joseph Bonnici - Chief Creative Officer, Board Member - Tadiem  

  • Stephanie Yung - Chief Design Officer - Zulu Alpha Kilo  

  • Xavier Blais - Creative Director - Rethink Canada  

  • Krystle Mullin - Chief Creative Officer - John St.  

  • Anne-Claude Chenier - Vice-president principale, Creation - Cossette  

  • Glen D'Souza - Head of Creative - Forsman & Bodenfors  

  • Mia Thomsett – Creative Director - The Leisure Project  

 

Young Lions Digital Jury 

  • Mary Maddever – EVP & Editorial Director - Brunico Communications – JURY CHAIR

  • Karen Howe - Founder - The Township Group  

  • Marty Martinez - Chief Creative Officer - TANK Worldwide  

  • Julie Desrochers - Directrice de création - Sid Lee  

  • Roehl Sanchez - Chief Creative Officer & Partner - BIMM  

  • Jenny Smith - President/Executive Creative Director - Ray Agency  

  • Luc Du Sault - Partner and CCO - LG2 Quebec City  

  • Linda Carte - Creative Director - Fuse Create  

  • Matthew May - Creative Director - Believeco  

  • Natalie Bomberry - VP, Operations - Pilot PMR  

 

Young Lions Media Jury 

  • Cathy Collier - Chief Executive Officer - OMD Canada – JURY CHAIR 

  • Brooke Leland - Managing Partner - Jungle Media  

  • Alastair Taylor - Chief Executive Officer - Publicis Media Canada  

  • Sarah Thompson - President, Media - dentsu Canada  

  • Caroline Moul – President - PHD Media  

  • Helen Galanis - Chief Executive Officer - Initiative  

  • Noah Vardon - President of the Havas Media Group Canada - Havas Media Canada  

  • Shannon Lewis – President - CMDC  

  • Shelley Smit - Chief Executive Officer - Mediabrands Canada  

  • Sophie Laberre - Chief Client Officer - dentsu X Canada  

  • Benjamin Ferreira - Vice-Président, Stratégie - OMD  

  • Jennifer Lewis - Chief Client Officer - Carat  

  • Matt McGowan - General Manager - Snap Inc.  

  • Richard Ivey - Chief Client Officer - Media Experts  

  • Nikki Stone - Chief Executive Officer - Wavemaker Canada  

Young Lions Marketers Jury 

  • Susan Irving - Chief Marketing Officer - Kruger Products Inc.– JURY CHAIR 

  • Aaron Nemoy - Founder & Chief Executive Officer - Crowdiate  

  • Steve Levy - Ipsos Canada   

  • Deyra Jaye Fontaine - Marketing Strategist - Export Development Canada  

  • Adrian Fuoco - Vice President, Marketing - Pizza Pizza Limited 

  • Devorah Lithwick - Senior Vice President & Chief Brand Officer - Bell Canada  

  • Valérie Sapin - Vice-Présidente - Centre d'expertise Marketing - Desjardins  

  • Leslie Malcolm - Vice President of Marketing - Molson Coors Canada 

  • Katherine Debicki - Chief Marketing Officer - KFC Canada  

  • Marie-Lou Blais - Chief Marketing Officer - Decathlon  

  • Laura Douglas - Dove Marketing Lead - Unilever  

  • Jess Spaulding - Chief Marketing Officer - PepsiCo Foods Canada  

  • Quincy Kelman - VP of Marketing - Walt Disney Studios Canada  

     

Marcin Zerek, Head of Trade Marketing, The Globe and Mail, said: “This will be our 19th year as an Official Festival Representative, and we remain more committed than ever to championing Canada's creativity on the world stage. In 2023, Canada was one of three countries to win two awards at the Global Young Lions competition. We also rank second globally in medals won in Young Lions history. Following last year’s record-breaking achievements, we're excited to keep the momentum going, and we're looking forward to building and expanding on the competition. For this reason, we're thrilled to have Snapchat join us as the 2024 Media Category Sponsor.”  

"We are excited to join the Canadian Young Lions Competition as this year's Media Category Sponsor," said Matt McGowan, General Manager, Canada at Snap Inc. "Snapchat is built for creativity and self-expression; and celebrating, supporting and elevating local media and creators is at the core of what we do. We look forward to seeing brilliant ideas come to life at this year's competition.” 

About the Canadian Young Lions Competition  

The Globe and Mail has been the official Canadian representative of the Cannes Lions International  

Festival of Creativity since 2005, hosting the Canadian Young Lions competition since 2007. 

To be eligible to compete* in the Canadian Young Lions Competition, entrants must:  

  • be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or have a valid Canadian work permit. 

  • be a professional employed in the industry (*Specific criteria applies)  

  • be at least the legal age of majority in their province or territory and not older than 30 years of age prior to June 23, 2023. 

*For complete eligibility criteria and competition guidelines, refer to the Official Rules and Regulations. 

X: @CannesLionsCAN 

Hashtag: #YoungLions2024 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/globemediagroup  

Strategy Magazine, Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), and the Canadian Media  Directors’ Council (CMDC) support the competition as partners of the Canadian Cannes Program. 

Snapchat supports the competition as the 2024 Media Category Sponsor. 

About the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity  

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, is the world’s leading celebration of creativity in communications and encompasses Lions Health, Lions Innovation, and Lions  

Entertainment. Founded in 1954, the Festival takes place every June in Cannes, France. As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival.  

About The Globe and Mail 

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s foremost news media company, leading the national discussion and causing policy change through brave and independent journalism since 1844. With our award-winning coverage of business, politics and national affairs, The Globe and Mail newspaper reaches 6.3 million readers every week in our print or digital formats, and Report on Business magazine reaches 2.8 million readers in print and digital every issue. Our investment in innovative data science means that as the world continues to change, so does The Globe. The Globe and Mail is owned by Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson family.  

Source: Vividata SCC Fall 2023, National, Total 14+  

For more information, please contact:  

Marcin Zerek 

Head of Trade Marketing 

The Globe and Mail 

437-518-6342 

mzerek@globeandmail.com