2025 Toronto Urban Design Awards Accepting Submissions
Sharing below some information on the 2025 Toronto Urban Design Awards. There are a couple of submission categories that the work of a number of our BIAs have been working on that are very relevant and should be recognized.
More information, including detailed program requirements and submission criteria, is available on the City’s website: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/awards/toronto-urban-design-awards/
The deadline for submissions is noon on Monday, April 14.
Please consider submitting.
City Release
March 4, 2025
City of Toronto opens submissions for the 2025 Toronto Urban Design Awards
The City of Toronto is now accepting submissions for the 2025 Toronto Urban Design Awards, held every second year to recognize achievements in urban design, architecture and landscape architecture. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the program, a milestone in celebrating design excellence across the city.
Designers, developers, project owners, community groups, design students and others are invited to enter eligible projects in a variety of categories.
Submission categories include:
– elements
– private buildings in context
– public buildings in context
– small open spaces
– large places and/or neighbourhood designs
– visions and master plans
– student projects
– public art (new category in 2025)
As a new category, public art recognizes the growing significance that artwork contributes to the animation of the public realm across the city. Design students are also encouraged to enter theoretical or studio projects relating to Toronto.
Submissions should outline how the project strives to meet the broad goals of the City’s Official Plan (https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/official-plan/), supports equity, affordability, resilience, accessibility, integration and preservation of heritage resources, environmental sustainability and contributes to the City’s goals of re-urbanization.
There are two main areas of focus for the 2025 awards program:
Sustainability that identifies how climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience have been included in the project design or concept.
Equity, reconciliation and diversity, which are core City values. Submissions will speak to how projects seek to achieve equitable outcomes for Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups, amplify their voices in how work was undertaken, strengthen relationships and build trust. Submissions will also highlight how projects took an equity and reconciliation approach to their methodology, and how those priorities achieved outcomes.
The Toronto Urban Design Awards program seeks broad representation from the design community including representation from Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving groups or communities. In addition, the program seeks entries that represent design excellence in diverse neighbourhoods, particularly those underrepresented in the space.
The deadline for submissions is noon on Monday, April 14. The City will hold an awards ceremony in September to celebrate all entries and announce the winners.
More information, including detailed program requirements and submission criteria, is available on the City’s website: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/awards/toronto-urban-design-awards/
Quote:
“The Toronto Urban Design Awards are an opportunity to celebrate outstanding architecture and design, a beautiful public realm and thoughtful and joyful public art, all of which are essential elements of a vibrant, dynamic and successful city. As Toronto continues to grow and evolve, championing good city-building is important to ensure our neighbourhoods are great places to live, work and play. Toronto has much to celebrate and we’re looking forward to receiving submissions during this milestone year for the awards ceremony.”
– Jason Thorne, Chief Planner & Executive Director, City Planning, City of Toronto
Toronto is home to more than three million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture, innovation and climate action, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit www.toronto.ca or follow us on X at www.x.com/CityofToronto, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofto.