2010 Entry Rules

• Evaluation Criteria
• Entry Form
• Mail Your Entry

NOTICE TO TEACHERS OR GROUP LEADERS: We encourage as many young people as possible to take part in the 2010 Poster Challenge. Please read through the complete list of entry rules and eligibility criteria with your students and submit the posters of all participants without conducting a pre-selection process. Contact your Canadian Heritage Regional Office if you have any questions.

Eligibility:

• Participants must be between the ages of 5 and 18 and reside in Canada.
  
  
• Only one entry per participant is permitted. Multiple entries per school or region may be mailed together to save on postage.
  
  
• A participant is eligible only once to be chosen as a provincial or territorial finalist.
  
  
• Immediate family members (son or daughter, brother or sister) or persons living under the same roof as an employee of the Department of Canadian Heritage or a Poster Challenge sponsor are not eligible to enter this contest.

Required information:

• Participants are encouraged to use the entry form included in the promotional fold-out (or a photocopy) and attach it to the back of their poster. They can also download and print the entry form.
  
  
• Participants may also print the following information in pencil on the back of their artwork: name, age, address, telephone number, email, name of school, school address, name of teacher, and preferred language of correspondence.
  
  
• Participants should also provide a short explanation as to how they found out about the Poster Challenge, and one or two sentences explaining how their artwork expresses this year’s theme, My Canada is...
  
  
• All information collected will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Evaluation criteria:

• Artwork will be evaluated using the following criteria: compliance with the entry rules, compliance with the theme, clarity of message, use of colours, and originality. Please note that decisions made by the judging panel of the Canada Day Poster Challenge are final.

Prizes:

• The winners must accept their prizes as offered. No substitution, transfer, or exchange will be permitted.

Deadline:

• Entries must be marked “Canada Day Poster Challenge 2010” and be postmarked before midnight on March 15, 2010.

Submit a poster:

• Participants must submit their artwork to their Canadian Heritage Regional Office in their province or territory.
  
  
• Once submitted, all artwork—including any intellectual property relating to the artwork—will become the sole property of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Department will be free to use any or all such entries in any form without compensation or remuneration.
  
  
• Entries will not be returned to participants.

Notification of winners:

• Winners will be notified by telephone in April 2010. A consent and release statement will be required to allow the Department of Canadian Heritage to use and publish by any means their name, voice, photograph, testimonial, image, or appearance in a video, as the case may be, for promotional activities related to the contest.

Artwork requirements:

• Artwork must reflect this year’s theme: My Canada is...
  
  Tip 1 - Theme
  Combine your imagination and talents to produce a poster that highlights this year’s theme: My Canada is... Create scenes of popular sports you love to play or watch. Explore Canada’s rich cultural diversity and heritage, including images of music, dance, theatre, or architecture. Celebrate Canada’s great people, places, and history with your artwork. The possibilities are wide open for you to explore.
  
  
• Please do not include as part of your artwork any trademarks such as brand logos, symbols, designs, slogans, or numbers used for the purposes of commercial identification.
  
  Tip 2 - Trademarks
  Organizations, sport teams, and companies, may choose to trademark certain words, symbols, or designs (or a combination of these features) to distinguish their wares and services from those of others in the marketplace. Use your artistic ability to create artwork that is completely original—that way, you can be sure that your design does not include trademarks that belong to someone else.
  
  
• Letters, words and phrases are not permitted.
  
  Tip 3 - Words
  A picture really is worth a thousand words, so let your art do the talking! Letters, words, and phrases like“Happy Birthday”, “Good Luck”, and“Ontario (ON)”, are not permitted in your artwork.
  
  
• The use of symbols of Canada is encouraged.
  
  Tip 4 - Symbols of Canada
  Canada has many symbols that are recognized here at home and around the world. Our symbols are just as diverse as Canada’s history and its citizens! In your artwork, you can include symbols of Canada like the Parliament Buildings, the RCMP, the Canadian flag, the Maple Leaf, and even our national animals: the beaver and the Canadian Horse! For more information on symbols of Canada, visit www.pch.gc.ca/symbolsofcanada and take a look at the Symbols of Canada booklet.
  
  
• All artwork must be in colour - black and white posters will not be accepted.
  
  Tip 5 - Colour
  When creating your artwork, think in colour! The use of vibrant colours will achieve the best results for your poster.
  
  
• Participants may use any materials except three-dimensional supplies; items such as sparkles, micro beads, feathers, and so on, should not be included in the design.
  
  
• Computer-generated art is permitted. Please submit a hard copy of the artwork (see below for permissible paper sizes) along with a separate sheet listing the technical specifications, including the file format (TIFF files, EPS files, and PDF files in high resolution are acceptable) as well as the name of the software used to produce the artwork. The use of clip art and photos is not permitted.
  
  
• Braille art may be submitted.
  
  
• Artwork dimensions should be no larger than 38 cm X 50 cm(15 inches X 20 inches) and no smaller than 28 cm X 43 cm (11 inches X 17 inches). Participants aged 5 to 11 may use a smaller paper size, minimum 21.5 cm X 28 cm (8.5 inches X 11 inches).
  
  
• All artwork, including computer-generated art,must be original designs that have not been published previously.