Excellence Canada Announces 2015 Canada Awards for Excellence Recipients

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - October 26, 2015) - Excellence Canada is pleased to announce that 19 organizations will be recognized at the 31^st Annual Canada Awards for Excellence ceremonies on October 29, 2015 for outstanding performance in award categories that include: Excellence, Innovation & Wellness; Quality; Healthy Workplace^®; and Mental Health at Work^®.

The Patron of the Canada Awards for Excellence program is His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General of Canada.

Excellence Canada's mandate is to help private, public, and non-profit sector organizations across Canada to implement standards of excellence. It is the only not-for-profit organization that certifies and recognizes organizations that embody the attributes of excellence. These Award Recipients are customer focused, innovative, competitive, economically sustainable, environmentally responsible, good corporate citizens, and actively pursuing strategies to improve the mental and physical health and safety of their employees.

Gary Seveny, Chairman of Excellence Canada, stated: "We are so very proud to bestow the Canada Awards for Excellence upon these outstanding organizations. Our award recipients are role models of excellence in the areas of leadership, governance, strategy, planning, customer experience, employee engagement, innovation, and wellness. Individually and collectively, these recipients have shown exceptional fortitude and leadership, making tangible contributions within their organizations and positive economic impact for Canada as a whole. We applaud their outstanding achievements."

Allan Ebedes, President and CEO of Excellence Canada, commented: "For the past 31 years we have recognized over 600 outstanding organizations for meeting the highest standards of quality, excellence, innovation, and healthy workplaces. This year we are delighted to have the Honourable Louise Arbour C.C., G.O.Q. and Dr. Gilles Patry deliver keynote addresses. We will also learn from the presentations of nine senior leaders and hear the success stories of this year's recipients of the Canada Awards for Excellence."

The awards will be presented at the 2015 Performance Excellence Summit and Canada Awards for Excellence on Thursday, October 29th at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. For complete event details and registration, please visit www.excellencesummit.ca

A FULL LIST OF THE AWARD RECIPIENTS WILL FOLLOW

RECIPIENTS OF THE 31^ST ANNUAL CANADA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE, 2015

ORDER OF EXCELLENCE AWARD

This is the highest level of recognition presented by Excellence Canada.

The following organizations have successfully maintained a focus on excellence over the long term and have previously received the Canada Awards for Excellence Gold Trophy.

Order of Excellence: Quality

• Diversicare Canada Management Services Co., Inc., Mississauga, Ontario
• Ontario Parks, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough, Ontario
• Social Services Department, The Regional Municipality of Durham, Whitby, Ontario

Order of Excellence: Excellence Innovation and Wellness

• Saint Elizabeth, Markham, Ontario

EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION AND WELLNESS AWARD

The Champion of Excellence for the Excellence, Innovation and Wellness category is Sun Life Financial. This award is based on Excellence Canada's Excellence, Innovation and Wellness Standard and was developed by Excellence Canada in association with Excellence Canada partners and professionals from across Canada.

Platinum Award Recipients

• ArcelorMittal Dofasco, Hamilton, Ontario
• Architecture, Information Management & Project Management Office, Central Agencies I&IT Cluster, Treasury Board Secretariat, Province of Ontario
• Sun Life Financial, Toronto, Ontario

Gold Award Recipient

• EthoSolar Inc., Barrie, Ontario

Silver Award Recipients

• Carleton University, Finance and Administrative Division, Ottawa, Ontario

ORGANIZATIONAL QUALITY AND HEALTHY WORKPLACE® AWARD

This award is based on Excellence Canada's Quality and Healthy Workplace^® framework, which is a target-driven, incremental approach to applying excellence criteria.

Gold Award Recipient

• The Corporation of the City of Markham, Markham, Ontario

HEALTHY WORKPLACE® AWARD

The Champion of Excellence for the Healthy Workplace^® category is Kimberly-Clark Professional. This award is based on Excellence Canada's Canadian Healthy Workplace^® Framework developed in partnership with Health Canada and in association with professionals from the health and wellness sectors.

Platinum Award Recipient

• Upper Canada District School Board, Brockville, Ontario

Gold Award Recipient

• Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario

Silver Award Recipients

• Horizon Utilities Corporation, Hamilton and St. Catharines, Ontario
• Rogers Communications Inc., Brampton, Ontario

MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK® AWARD

The Champion of Excellence for the Mental Health at Work^® category is Manulife Financial. This award is based on Excellence Canada's -- Mental Health at Work^® requirements. The Mental Health at Work^® framework was developed by Excellence Canada in association with mental health and work safety professionals from across Canada, and the requirements incorporate principles and practices as outlined in the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety.

Platinum Award Recipient

• Toronto East General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario

Silver Award Recipient

• ArcelorMittal Dofasco, Hamilton, Ontario

QUALITY and PROJECT AWARD

This award is based on the Canadian Framework for Excellence which is used as a management model for continuous improvement and the achievement of significant operational results. These awards will be presented by Ricoh Canada Inc.

Gold Award Recipients

• INO (National Optics Institute), Quebec, Quebec
• The Law Society of Upper Canada -- Client Service Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Bronze Award Recipients

• Algorithme Pharma -- An Altasciences Company, Laval, Quebec

• Groupe AFFI Logistique, Boucherville, Quebec
• Novik Inc., Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Québec

Certificate of Merit Recipient -- Project Category

• Architecture, Information Management and Project Management Office Branch, Central Agencies I&IT Cluster, Treasury Board Secretariat, Province of Ontario

RECOGNITION OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

From time-to-time, the Excellence Canada Board of Governors recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to Canadian society and/or the global human condition. Past Award recipients have included Dr. David Suzuki, former Prime Minister The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Lt.-General The Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, The Honourable Flora MacDonald, Sir Richard Branson, Mr. Rick Hansen and Chris Hadfield. This year, in keeping with the Summit theme "Excellence: Made in Canada", the Board of Governors is presenting the Special Recognition of Achievement Award to the following individuals for leadership and for having made a significant contribution to Canada and to society in general:

• Dr. Peter Legge, Chairman and CEO, Canada Wide Media Limited
• The Honourable Louise Arbour C.C., G.O.Q. -- former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Mr. Bill Wilkerson, Executive Chairman, Mental Health International

PROUD SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS OF CANADIAN EXCELLENCE

Excellence Canada gratefully acknowledges the support of the following organizations that have helped make this year's events possible.

Title Sponsor

Lundbeck Canada

Champions of Excellence

Kimberly-Clark Professional
Manulife Financial
PwC
Sun Life Financial

Benefactor and Networking Break Sponsor

Ricoh Canada Inc.

Benefactor Sponsor

Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life

Supporter Sponsors

AltaLink; AON; Carleton University; Desjardins Insurance; Herzig Eye Institute; Hill+Knowlton Strategies; Pizza Pizza; Powerstream Inc.; Workplace Safety & Insurance Board

Industry Sponsors

Calian Technologies Ltd.; Niagara College Canada

Media Sponsors

Your Workplace Magazine

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