Press & media.
Everything a journalist, producer or partner marketing team needs: boilerplate, brand assets, the story angles that are actually interesting, and accreditation for the evening.
Boilerplate.
Short, 40 words
The IWEC Business Excellence Awards 2026 recognise immigrant women entrepreneurs building businesses in Canada. Six independently judged categories and two signature honours culminate in an awards evening on Friday, 20 November 2026 at Brampton City Hall Conservatory, Brampton, Ontario.
Long, 95 words
The IWEC Business Excellence Awards are the flagship recognition programme of Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs Canada, a not for profit community platform with a mission to help 10,000 women build sustainable businesses in Canada. The awards recognise immigrant women founders across six categories, plus the Global Roots signature award and the flagship IWEC Immigrant Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. Every nomination is free to enter and scored independently by a minimum of three judges against published weighted criteria. The inaugural awards evening takes place on Friday, 20 November 2026 at Brampton City Hall Conservatory, Brampton, Ontario, before 150 guests.
Five stories in here worth telling.
- The credibility taxWhat it costs an immigrant woman founder, in real contracts and real dollars, to have a track record that Canadian institutions cannot read.
- Credential recognition, from the business sideThe women who gave up on getting their qualifications recognised and built the firm instead.
- Who lends to herHow immigrant women actually finance their first eighteen months when the bank says no: factoring, family, credit cards, community lending circles.
- The sectors nobody countsCatering, salons, childcare, cleaning and home care, businesses that employ thousands across the GTA and appear in almost no business coverage.
- An inaugural yearWhat it takes to start an awards programme from a WhatsApp group, and why the founders behind it insisted on making the judging this strict.
Download what you need.
Open any of these in a new tab to read it in full. Everything here is cleared for editorial use.
Logo pack
The primary and reversed marks with clear space, minimum size and colour guidance for print and screen.
Open the logo packPress release
The launch release announcing the inaugural programme, with quotes and contact details.
Open the releaseImagery
This is the inaugural year, so there is no event photography yet. Ask us and we will send what is available.
Request imageryFull media kit
Everything in one document: boilerplate, fact sheet, the categories and the judging process.
Open the media kitCover the evening.
Media places are limited and allocated by the awards team. Accredited media receive a reserved position at the media wall, access to finalists before the ceremony, and the winners' asset pack immediately after the announcement.
- Apply at least two weeks before the evening
- Photographers and camera crews must confirm equipment in advance
- Interviews with finalists are arranged through the awards team, not directly
- Embargoed winner information is not released before the ceremony, to anyone
Nominations Open
Someone you know has built something remarkable and has never once been asked to tell the story. Take fifteen minutes and put her forward.
