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.

The 2025 recipient, Friends of Simon, an initiative of Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Education, is recognized for empowering newcomer and marginalized K–12 students across the Lower Mainland for over 19 years.

By nominating your literacy champion to represent B.C. as the recipient of the 2026 Council of the Federation Literacy Award, you can share their story, celebrate their success, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

• Get familiarized with the nomination guide here (PDF, 130KB)

Eligibility

People and organizations are eligible for this award. 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 2026 selection committee member, family of a 2026 selection committee member, or an employee of the Province of B.C.

Selecting a 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 2026 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, please follow the instructions in the 2026 Award Nomination Guide (PDF, 130KB). To nominate someone, 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 31, 2026.

For more detailed information and instructions, please refer to the 2026 Award Nomination Guide (PDF, 130KB).