Council of the Federation Literacy Award

Do you know someone in your community who is changing lives through literacy? Celebrate them by nominating them for a Council of the Federation Literacy Award.

The Council of the Federation Literacy Award recognizes outstanding achievement, innovative practice, and excellence in literacy in every province and territory. It was created in 2004 by Canada’s Premiers. In British Columbia the award celebrates the achievements of a literacy champion or organization (including libraries) that helps Indigenous, workplace or community literacy learners in B.C. to acquire the literacy skills they need to improve their lives. This includes Indigenous language, numerical, digital or other forms of literacy.

The award is administered by the Public Libraries Branch, Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

Last year’s recipient, Maureen Kehler, was recognized for her extensive contributions to enable work at the grassroots level in support of learners in 400 communities.

By nominating your literacy champion to represent B.C. as the recipient of the 2025 Council of the Federation Literacy Award, you can share their story, celebrate their success, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Get started here with the 2025 Nomination Guide (PDF, 127KB).

Eligibility 

Your literacy champion is eligible if:

• They have been involved in B.C.’s literacy community within the past two years
• They reside in B.C., or their work is based in B.C.; and
• They are not a past winner, a 2025 selection committee member, family of a 2025 selection committee member, or an employee of the Province of B.C.

Selecting the winner

To select a winner, a committee of public servants and literacy experts assess and rank submissions to determine each nominee’s:

• Demonstrated excellence and innovative practices in literacy
• Responsiveness to community needs and relevance of their work
• Results that demonstrate the nominee’s positive impact in people’s lives by helping them develop their literacy skills

Recognition 

The 2025 B.C. recipient will be recognized publicly for their accomplishments and receive a Council of the Federation Literacy Award medallion, a certificate from the Premier, and a $500 honorarium.

Nomination 

To nominate your literacy champion, you will need to:

• Check that your literacy champion is eligible for the award.
• Confirm with your champion it’s okay to nominate them.
• Write a rationale and gather information to share your literacy champion’s story.
• Get two endorsements for your champion.
• Get signed consent forms for yourself, your champion, and your endorsers.
• Complete and submit to publib@gov.bc.ca a nomination form with all attachments before 11:59 PM on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

For more detailed information and instructions, please refer to the 2025 Nomination Guide (PDF, 127KB).