Each year, Landscape Ontario’s Awards of Excellence program honours the industry’s most outstanding achievements in design, construction, maintenance and more. With online entry now open for this year’s program, members are encouraged to start planning ahead by capturing high-quality photos of your latest project and reviewing some exciting new updates to this year’s categories.

Open only to Landscape Ontario members, the awards program celebrates outstanding skill, creativity and professionalism. Winning an award is a powerful way to promote your business, earn peer recognition, acknowledge your team and raise the bar for landscape excellence across Ontario.

Key updates to this year’s program

Based on feedback from past entrants and judging committees, several updates have been made to this year’s program.

• Before and after photos
  New this year, entrants are strongly encouraged to include “before” images along with finished project photos. This will become a mandatory requirement starting in 2026, so now’s the time to build this habit into your documentation process.
   
• New Special Projects category
• To provide fairer evaluation, a new category has been introduced for unique or non-traditional work, such as pool installations with no softscape component. Previously submitted under construction, these projects were often penalized due to softscape accounting for 25 per cent of the score. The new category removes this element to better reflect the project's strengths.
   
• Green Stamp criteria refined
  Green Stamp recognition will now be limited to only design projects, in line with its focus on environmentally responsible planning.
   
• Top legacy awards
  Top-scoring projects overall will be honoured with Legacy Awards, recognizing exceptional distinction across all categories.
   
• Code and safety compliance
  All projects must adhere to building codes and demonstrate safe construction practices. Entries failing to meet these standards may have points deducted.

Refresher on last year’s changes

If it’s been a while since you entered, here are a few important updates previously introduced that still apply:
 

• Scoring tiers
  Projects scoring between 80–89 per cent receive an Award of Merit, while those scoring 90–100 per cent are honoured with an Award of Excellence.
   
• Category limits
  Each project is limited to a maximum of two categories to ensure focused and fair evaluation.
   
• Marketing category removed
  The Marketing category has been eliminated from the competition.
   
• Design criteria alignment
  The criteria for the Design category has been updated to align with the standards of the National Awards of Landscape Excellence.
   
• Judging considerations
  Judges can deduct points for issues such as untidy sites or dead plants, emphasizing the importance of overall presentation.
   
• Updated judging score sheets
  Score sheets used by judges have been revised to reflect the new evaluation standards.

Get ready to enter

Online entry is open July 1 to Oct. 1, but don't wait until the last minute. Start organizing your project entries now. Remember to photograph your projects before you begin work — and in their best light — and review the submission guidelines in full.

Let your work speak for itself and be recognized among Ontario’s landscape elite. Learn more and begin your entry at LOawards.com.

ENTER NOW

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