FAQ

1. One overall winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
2. The overall winner and category winners in each category will be featured in the Made in Alberta Awards coverage in Avenue‘s September-October 2023 print issue. Additionally, the winners and up to five runners-up in each category will be featured on social media and the Made in Alberta Awards website.
3. Every single eligible entrant will be featured on the Made in Alberta Awards website for the Readers’ Choice Award. The winner of the Readers’ Choice Award will be determined by an online voting process. Last year, more than 4,000 readers voted.
4. The judging panel, including editors of Avenue, will review all entries, so you guarantee that your product is seen by experts in your field and the editors of Alberta’s largest lifestyle publication.
5. All eligible entrants will be able to use the Made in Alberta Awards program logo on their entered product and packaging.⁠
6. All eligible entrants will receive 15 per cent off tickets to Made in Alberta Awards events.

Entry submissions for the 2023 Made in Alberta Awards will open on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. Early-bird entries end at 11:59 p.m. MST on January 4, 2023. All entries will close at 11:59 p.m. MST on February 28, 2023.

The Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans is free to enter. For all other categories, there is an early-bird entry fee of $80 until 11:59 p.m. on January 4, 2023. Starting January 5, 2023, a general entry fee of $150 per entry will apply. Entry fees for those products that are deemed ineligible will not be refunded so please read the eligibility criteria closely. Most entries that are deemed ineligible are either not manufactured in Alberta, are artwork or books (artwork and books are not eligible), or are not products (stores and services are not eligible). If you’re not sure if your product is eligible, reach out and ask us by email at [email protected].

The $150 administrative fee allows us to produce the Made in Alberta Awards program. In addition to the potential for winning the Made in Alberta Awards, each eligible entrant will have the opportunity to use the Made in Alberta program logo on their entered product and packaging. All eligible entrants will be included in the online Readers’ Choice voting round (in 2022 more than 4,000 readers voted). And, all entrants will receive 15 per cent off tickets to all the Made in Alberta Awards events.

We accept all major credit cards, including VISA, Mastercard, and American Express.

Entry fees are non-refundable so please read the eligibility criteria closely. If you’re not sure if your product is eligible, reach out and ask us by email at [email protected].

No. To qualify for the Made In Alberta Awards, your product must be physically manufactured in the province of Alberta. But our editors would still love to hear about your product. Email us at [email protected] and let us know more about your locally designed work.

Yes. To qualify for the Made In Alberta Awards, your product must be physically manufactured in the province of Alberta. The components, ingredients or materials your product is made from do not need to all be made in Alberta for it to be eligible, however the final production — for example, putting pieces of jewellery together, printing on clothing, or cooking and producing a food item — does have to be done in Alberta for the product to be eligible for the Made in Alberta Awards.

Each entry is for a specific product or a related group of products, not for a company. An example of a related group of products would be a jewellery collection, products of the same type in different colours, or various flavours of the same product. If you have multiple, unrelated products, you can enter them each separately by purchasing and submitting separate entry forms.

Each entry form is for a single product or a related group of products. A collection, line, series or related group of products includes different sizes, flavours or colours of the same overall product, or different items from the same jewellery collection for example. If you think your product is part of a collection, line, series or related group of products, you may enter them together on one entry form. If you see your products as completely separate and unrelated items — for example several separate and distinct pieces of clothing — then they should be entered in separate entry forms. Note that the judges may, at their discretion, select only one of the items as a finalist.

Yes. If you would like to submit multiple, unrelated products, you may purchase and submit multiple entries.

​Enter the category that you think best represents your product. If the judges determine that a product has been entered in the wrong category and that it is more suitable and more likely to win in a different category, they can, at their discretion, move the entry into another category.

Furnishings and Home Decor: Furniture and home decor items for both home interiors and outdoors, including garden and patio.

Fashion and Accessories: Clothing, footwear, accessories and jewellery.

Beauty: Cosmetics, skincare and haircare. Note that wellness and healthcare products are not eligible.

Food – Savoury: Savoury edible packaged food items, including ingredients.

Food – Sweet: Sweet, edible, packaged food items, including ingredients.

Drink – alcoholic: Packaged alcoholic drinks.

Drink – non-alcoholic: Packaged non-alcoholic drinks.

Games and Leisure: Sporting equipment, outdoor gear, pet items, games and toys.

Craft: Items that are handmade by a single maker that demonstrate craftsmanship, including paper goods such as stationery and journals, textiles, leather goods, baskets, musical instruments, woodwork and more. Craft kits should be entered in the Games and Leisure category, not the Craft category.

Unique Product: Products that do not fit any other category.

Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans: This category is open to Indigenous artisans and companies owned by an Indigenous person that make their product in Alberta. Entries in this category should be products that would fall under another category covered by the awards, such as food, craft, furnishings, etc. Entries in this category can also be entered in another category. Entries in this category are free.

Only entries in the Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans can be entered in a second category. Otherwise, each product can only be entered into one category. The Made in Alberta Awards team reserves the right to move any products into a category they think it has a better chance of winning in. Entries entered in more than one category will only be eligible in one category at the judges’ discretion. Entry fees for repeat entries that are disqualified will not be refunded.

This award was started in 2021 in memory of Amy Willier, co-owner of Moonstone Creation, who passed away in January 2021. It is a Made in Alberta Awards category that is open to Indigenous artisans who make their work in Alberta. This category is free to enter and will feature the same benefits and prizes as all the other categories. This is the only category in which entrants can also enter the same product into one other additional category if they wish. Entrants in this category are not obligated to enter another category. Entries in this category must be products that would be eligible under another category covered by the awards, such as food, craft, furnishings, etc. and must in all other ways also be eligible for the awards.

The Amy Willier Award for Indigenous Artisans is free to enter and you can access the entry form here.

This is the only category where entrants may enter the same product into a second paid category as well. After you enter this category, you will receive a copy of your entry form by email. If you would like to enter your product into a second category for $150, please re-enter your product using this entry form. You can use the same answers for both forms.

No. To be eligible, products must be available through until the end of October 2023. But please let us know about your seasonal product as we write about Alberta makers all year long.

It depends on what the product is. One of a kind art does not qualify for the Made in Alberta Awards. But if you produce a product line where your visual art is reproduced onto a product (for example printed onto a pillow or T-shirt), the resulting product is eligible. Either way, our editors would still love to hear about your work. Email us at [email protected] and let us know more about what you do. If you’re not sure if your work qualifies for entry, please contact us first — entry fees for ineligible entries will not be refunded.

It depends on what the product is and if it fits into one of our broader categories. For example, if you make an app-based game, you can submit that under the Games and Leisure category. If you produce a technology-based piece of home decor, you may enter it in the Furnishings and Home Decor category. If it is a service or a business-to-business technology, it is not eligible. If you’re not sure if your work qualifies for entry, please contact us first — entry fees for ineligible entries will not be refunded.

The Made in Alberta Awards recognize products rather than companies. To be eligible, all entered products must be available for purchase through until the end of October 2023. Therefore, one-off pieces are not eligible. Products where elements such as style, shape, colour, size, etc. are completely customizable to a client’s desire, with no overall, similar product design, will most likely be deemed ineligible by the judges. Made-to-measure or made-to-order products with an overall, similar product design and product example are eligible. A line of products that are similar, with a set of customizations (size, material or colour for example) would be eligible. Email [email protected] and let us know more about what you do so we can help you determine if your product is eligible. Please contact us before you enter — entry fees for ineligible entries will not be refunded.

Finalists will be notified by the end of May.

Entrants in the food, drink and beauty categories will be contacted for samples and must provide three samples per entry for the judging process. For entries in other categories you may be contacted if a judging sample is required. The cost and logistics of shipping or delivery of all samples are the responsibility of the entrant. Failure to supply samples may result in disqualification.

Winners and runners-up will be announced to the public online on the Made in Alberta Awards website and in Avenue’s September-October 2023 issue.

Yes. As long as you are entering a different product, it is eligible. Products that were listed as category winners or runners-up in a previous year aren’t eligible. Products that were selected as honourable mentions, but not as a runner-up or winner are also eligible to enter again.