IR Magazine
IR Magazine Awards – Canada 2021

IR Magazine Awards – Canada
Celebrating IR Excellence

Thursday, April 7, 2022

About the awards

The IR Magazine Awards – Canada 2022 will take place on Thursday, April 7.

Since the annual event first launched in 1996, tens of thousands of analysts and investors have voted in the surveys behind the awards. The result: vital benchmarking information on which companies do the best IR. In recent years, the awards program has expanded to recognize more aspects of an IRO’s role as we add new categories to the list and give IR teams the opportunity to nominate themselves.

By popular demand, we present two types of award categories – researched and nominated – both celebrating the success of those individuals and companies that are leading the way in IR across Canada.

For our researched categories, companies do not submit nominations. Instead, hundreds of analysts and investors cast their votes and give their opinions on which companies provide the best IR service. In our nominated categories, companies submit written entries to articulate their success and achievements from the past year, giving any publicly listed company the opportunity to be considered for an award.

 

Researched categories      Nominated categories

Be the first to know when our awards process begins for 2022Register your interest

Awards by nomination

For our awards-by-nomination categories, individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.

The nomination form will be open for entries at the end of September. In the meantime, you can register your interest to nominate by clicking here.

Please note that categories are subject to change based on the final number of submissions received. Some categories may be split by market cap size.

View the full list of 2021 winners by clicking here

Best crisis management

Best crisis management

Have you recently dealt with an unexpected event threatening your company's business or reputation? How did your company respond to the Covid-19 pandemic? Tell us about your ‘crisis ready’ plan, the strategy you implemented when the storm hit, and how the IR team’s actions successfully protected or restored shareholder value.

Best ESG reporting

Best ESG reporting

Companies face growing demands to inform investors about the risk and opportunities - they face from a range of ESG issues. Describe how your company was able to meet the demands of shareholders looking for substance in ESG reporting?

Best investor event

Best investor event

Did you hold a capital markets day, site visit or other investor event that made your company stand out from the crowd? Tell us how you came up with an original initiative, the way you managed its organization, and how your audience’s expectations were met; audience feedback is also welcome. Both virtual and in-person events can be considered for this award.

Best IR during a corporate transaction

Best IR during a corporate transaction

How did your IR team go above and beyond to support a recent corporate transaction? Let us know the details. We’ll be looking at the IR team’s involvement in crafting/releasing the messaging for the financial markets and how it organized outreach and dialogue to gain approval from key shareholders.

Best IR website

Best IR website

The IR website is the first point of contact for an IRO’s audience. We want to hear from companies that have developed a best-in-class website displaying top-notch customer experience, engaging content that meets analysts’ and investors’ needs, and multiplatform access.

Best use of technology & social media for IR

Best use of technology & social media for IR

Are you a tech-savvy IRO always looking out for cutting-edge technological solutions for IR? Describe the innovative ways you have incorporated video, audio, infographics or webcasts into your IR program. Judges will be looking for evidence of heightened investor and analyst engagement via these channels.

Rising star

Rising star

This award seeks to honor individuals who bring fresh thinking and a unique approach to the profession. This category is open to anyone who has been working in IR for less than five years and has less than 10 years of professional experience.

The awards-by-nomination categories differ from our traditional researched awards, as individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.

The judging process consists of three simple phases:

Phase one: Once the entry deadline has passed, the IR Magazine editorial team reviews all submissions and produces the short list

Phase two: The short-listed entries are shared with an independent judging panel made up of industry experts. The judges review each short-listed entry and select their top two picks per category

Phase three: The judges come together to discuss, debate and select the final list of winners who will go on to win an award

The judges’ votes are not made public, but their comments may be published in articles or reports after the event. Judges are not required to make comments against every submission.

What our attendees say

"Congrats on a great event. Virtual events can be challenging and the team pulled it off without a hitch."

Roots

"I really enjoyed the networking portion. The MC had wonderful entertaining energy."

Canadian Tire Corp

"I thought the quality of this virtual event and the interaction with all the awards was handled very well. Given the circumstances I was very impressed with the quailty of the way this event was run. I have attended many of these in person and was very curious to see how this new normal would work. I would have to rate this as a success. Congratulations on a wonderful event completed under very difficult circumstances."

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

"Pace was good, made the best of the virtual situation."

Parkland

"Overall quality was very professional/impressive. Seamless transitions to the acceptance speeches."

Lundin Mining

"Event production was produced very well."

Agnico Eagle Mines

"The whole agenda was seamlessly executed; especially having gone 100% virtual! The networking portion was great, I found the 5-minute limit to be the perfect amount. Overall, a well-done event, engaging content, and professionally executed. Thank you IR Magazine!"

RBC

"Very smooth run through. I liked the prerecorded acceptance speeches to help keep the suspense. Very well done, given the circumstances!"

Anonymous

Awards by research

Our awards-by-research nominees are determined by the input of hundreds of analysts and portfolio managers, who give their opinions on which companies provide them with the best IR service in Canada. Every year we invite any publicly listed company to submit their list of buy and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, so that they have the opportunity to vote via our survey.

If you have any questions on this process or wish to access our data sharing agreement, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. For any further queries about the research, please contact [email protected].

View the full list of 2021 winners by clicking here

Best overall investor relations

Best overall investor relations

This category covers companies that have most impressed the investment community with their overall IR program. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below C$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between C$2 bn - C$10 bn / Large cap = C$10 bn and over

Best investor relations officer

Best investor relations officer

This category is for individual IROs whose knowledge of their company and sector and whose ability to build relationships with members of the investment community and to be transparent, accessible and responsive, sets them apart. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below C$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between C$2 bn - C$10 bn / Large cap = C$10 bn and over

Best IR by a senior management team

Best IR by a senior management team

Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below C$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between C$2 bn - C$10 bn / Large cap = C$10 bn and over

Best financial reporting

Best financial reporting

Best corporate governance & disclosure

Best corporate governance & disclosure

Best IR by a Canadian company in the US market

Best IR by a Canadian company in the US market

Best in sector: communications

Best in sector: communications

Best in sector: consumer discretionary & consumer staples

Best in sector: consumer discretionary & consumer staples

Best in sector: energy

Best in sector: energy

Best in sector: financials & real estate

Best in sector: financials & real estate

Best in sector: industrials

Best in sector: industrials

Best in sector: materials

Best in sector: materials

Best in sector: technology

Best in sector: technology

Best in sector: utilities

Best in sector: utilities

The first thing to explain is that our researched awards are different from most others; for our awards by research, companies do not submit nominations. The winners are identified by in-depth research and any publicly traded company is eligible to be considered. This survey is the only one of its kind to go directly to the investment community, via a combination of an electronic survey and one-to-one telephone interviews, canvassing the opinions of the people who matter to you most.

July 2021: Sample selection

IR Magazine has been building investment community databases for more than 30 years. As part of the updating process, listed companies are contacted every year for details of the professionals who currently cover their stock.

September – November 2021: Telephone survey

The telephone survey then gets under way. The researchers conduct in-depth interviews with an additional 200 portfolio managers and analysts based in Canada. Many of them participate in the study year after year, but there is always a healthy proportion of new respondents each year as well. As the research progresses, the sample is adjusted to ensure appropriate weightings are maintained.

October 2021: Electronic survey

IR Magazine then conducts an electronic survey of buy-side and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers. The electronic survey typically receives 200 individual responses from the investment community. These responses then go to Mary Maude Research for initial analysis. The research firm determines what will constitute a representative sample, weighted for industry sector.

Results analysis

Once the survey stage of the research is completed, the final analysis is undertaken. The companies with the highest scores make the short lists for the awards categories, and the points are further analyzed to identify the best exponents of IR by sector. The independence of our research is crucial to the integrity of the whole awards program, so IR Magazine sees the results only once the research is complete. This ensures a transparent, independent set of results that IROs can trust as a valuable bench-marking tool.

January 2022: Short list compiled

IR Magazine receives the results in January and contacts the short-listed companies to give them the good news. The short list is then published to the entire IR community one month before the event.

 April 7, 2022: Winners announced

And finally… the winners are announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday, April 7, 2021!

April 2022: Report published

Shortly after the awards, the Investor Perception Study – Canada 2022 report is published and made available to IR Magazine subscribers.

 

Who attends our events

Attendees at this event are leading IR practitioners from across Canada. Each participant is someone with an established track record and a strategic IR role within his or her company.

Below is a sample of some of 2021’s attendees:

Company Job title Company Job title
DLF AGM – investor relations Verde AgriTech IR manager
Alamos Gold Associate, investor relations BRP Manager, investor relations
AirBoss of America CFO Lundin Mining Manager, investor relations
Cenovus Energy Communications contractor Tervita Corporation Manager, investor relations
Suncor Energy Coordinator, market access Canadian Pacific Railway Managing director investor relations
Shawcor Corporate & investor relations National Bank of Canada Senior advisor, investor relations
Cordoba Minerals Corp/Kaizen Discovery Corporate secretary and ethics compliance officer Bank of Montreal Senior analyst
BMO Financial Group Director George Weston Senior director, investor relations
Endeavour Silver Director of IR IGM Financial Senior manager, corporate responsibility
Parkland Corporation Director, capital markets Cineplex Senior manager, investor relations
Air Canada Director, investor relations RBC Senior manager, investor relations
Capital Power Director, investor relations Aecon Group Senior vice president
Capstone Mining Director, investor relations Intact Financial Senior vice president
Hudbay Minerals Director, investor relations Pembina Pipeline Corporation Senior VP & chief financial officer
TC Transcontinental Director, investor relations Parkland Sr. Associate, corporate communications
Fortis Executive assistant Kinross Gold SVP, investor relations
TD Bank Group Head of ESG reporting Samsung Life Insurance US chief representative officer
Roots Corporation Head of investor relations Boralex Vice president
Thomson Reuters Head of investor relations Real Matters Vice president, investor relations
Nutrien Investor relations administrator Altus Group Vice president, investor relations
ARC Resources Investor relations analyst Hydro One VP, investor relations
Canadian Tire Investor relations associate and executive assistant Stantec VP, IR
WSP Global IR Gibson Energy VP, strategy, planning & IR

Request full attendee list

Become a partner

Why partner with us?

The IR Magazine Awards – Canada brings together some of the most influential people in the IR community.

Partnering with us is the perfect way to raise your organization’s profile and cement your position in the IR community.

The unique buzz we create at our virtual awards enables you to:

  • Reach thousands of industry leaders through our multi-channel marketing campaign
  • Raise your organization’s profile with unrivalled brand exposure
  • Align yourself with those who excel in the industry
  • Put your brand in the spotlight and benefit from months of targeted, high profile publicity across multiple channels pre-and post-event.

We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience through the IR Magazine Awards – Canada. Get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 212 430 6865.

Register your interest

Register your interest for the 2022 awards by filling in the form at the link below. You will be the first to receive important updates about the event, including what to expect and information about how to be considered for an award.

If you have any questions, please contact Chloë Rutter at [email protected] or call +44 20 3002 0396.

 

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Watch the 2021 show

Don’t worry if you missed the 2021 virtual awards ceremony, you can view the full show below.

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