SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026

SEIRHEY KHMARA ZINIAK AWARD
The Sierhey Khmara Ziniak Award, in honour of the founder, goes to a single person based on a body of work celebrating Canada’s diversity.

CEMA 2026 AWARDS COMPETITION SUBMISSIONS
In keeping with its highly anticipated annual practice of recognizing journalistic excellence among its national members, and beyond, CEMA proudly invites submissions for this year’s competition. This year you have two options for entering submissions: you can enter manually (the old tried and true way) or electronically. Details below.

ENTRIES MAY BE MADE IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
1. PRINT/ONLINE
2. RADIO
3. TELEVISION
4. FILM & DOCUMENTARY
5. PODCAST (News and Features)
6. VIDEO SERIES/SCREEN-BASED PROJECTS
7. INNOVATION

These are juried awards, and decisions will be based on quality of material, reflection on diversity in
Canada, contribution to ethnic media standards, and voice for marginalized communities. Final decisions
will be left to the discretion of the judges.

• PRINT/ONLINE
• RADIO
• TELEVISION
• FILM & DOCUMENTARY
• PODCAST – NEWS & FEATURE
• VIDEO SERIES/SCREEN BASED PROJECTS
• INNOVATION

• Competition is open to all legitimate news and information media published or broadcast in Canada.
• Content of the work submitted should clearly relate to and reflect Canada’s multicultural diversity and/or ethnocultural communities in Canada.
• All work must be original, and listings of coming events or other like information submitted by others will not be accepted.
• A contestant may submit his/her own entry or be nominated by a third party.
• Entries must have been published or broadcast between the dates of April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Date of publication or broadcast must be clearly marked on the submission.
• Entries can be in any language, but all entries in languages other than English or French must be accompanied by an English or French translation. A direct translation is preferred, but at minimum, a brief synopsis is required.
• If submitting manually, entries must contain four (4) copies of each piece of work submitted. That is to say, four (4) copies of any article, audio or video recording or printout from a website published or broadcast within the qualifying dates.

PLEASE NOTE: You may enter more than one submission in each category. Please do not enter each submission in more than one category.

4. RIGHTS: By entering the Awards, you, as the entrant and/or nominee give CEMA the right to publish, screen or play excerpts from the winning entries.

5. ENTRY FEE: $25.00 per entry. PAYMENT MAY BE MADE BY E-TRANSFER to [email protected]

6. DEADLINE: SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026.

7. THE AWARDS PRESENTATION TAKE PLACE FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026.

For more information, please contact email: [email protected]

We welcome a lively exchange of ideas to foster ethnocultural awareness and promote the impact and importance of ethnic media in Canada.

Links: Submission Form

Contact Us:
Get in touch with us via email or phone:
E: [email protected]
T: 416.488.0048