The 2025 Young Lions Canadian Competition Shortlists Announced

The Globe and Mail, the Official Festival Representative in Canada for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has announced the shortlisted teams for the 2025 Canadian Young Lions Competition.

This year saw a record-breaking 816 individuals register to compete – an increase of nearly 10% from last year – across seven categories: Marketers, Media, PR, Design, Print, Film and Digital. Notably, this year’s shortlist features participants from coast to coast, marking one of the most regionally diverse cohorts the competition has seen to date. Both the Design and PR categories are new to Canada this year, with PR proudly sponsored by Edelman.

Modelled after the Cannes Global Young Lions Competition, entrants received a brief and had to complete the challenge for their respective category within a 24-hour or 48-hour period. Each year, the competition jury chairs select a non-profit organisation as the subject of the competition briefs. This year, the chosen charity was Baycrest Foundation, and the objective across all categories was to raise awareness and support for Baycrest’s ground breaking work in aging and brain health, with a focus on encouraging key lifestyle changes that can help prevent cognitive decline.

Baycrest Background

Baycrest is a globally recognised leader in aging and brain health innovation with a mission to advance aging-related cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing for older persons. Baycrest is also home to an extensive network of research and innovation partners and the headquarters of Canada’s largest dementia research program.

With a commitment to research, innovate and education, their domestic and international clinical training programs are helping to shape the future of aging and brain health.

Top five semi-finalist teams in Marketers, Media, PR & Design advance to live judging.

The top five teams in Marketers, Media, PR and Design categories will now move on to a second round of judging, where they will present their ideas live to juries of Canadian marketing and creative leaders at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto.

Marketers Category

Competitors in the Marketers category were given 24 hours to develop a big idea – whether a product, service, campaign, or promotion – on behalf of the brand they currently work for. Their solution had to align with Baycrest’s mission and spotlight the organization’s leadership in aging and brain health. Entries in the Marketers category were reviewed by a distinguished jury of industry leaders, chaired by Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer at Kruger Products Inc. The Marketers category is sponsored by Interac. 

In no particular order, the semi-finalists in the Marketers category are:

Coors Light – Chill Puzzles

o Carlie Lorentz, Molson Coors Beverage Company, British Columbia

o Lauren Pereira, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Ontario

Bring Back the Stars

o Arielle Uwonkunda, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Ontario

o Suzanne Liu, Uber, Ontario

bubly sparkling minds

o Ivy Yu, PepsiCo, Ontario

o Vippy Chau, PepsiCo, Ontario

LiveYoung: one sip, one step at a time

o Caroline Pellegrini, Danone Canada, Ontario

o Katherine Ball, Danone Canada, Ontario

BRAIN CHANGER: PUT YOUR BRAIN IN THE GAME

o Mateo Molinaro, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), Ontario

o Tristan St-Amour, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), Ontario

Media Category

Competitors in the Media category were given 24 hours to create a media strategy that raises awareness and support for Baycrest’s ground breaking work in aging and brain health. The challenge called on teams to show that Canadians have agency over their cognitive health and to encourage key lifestyle changes that may help prevent cognitive decline. Entries in the Media category were evaluated by a distinguished jury of media experts, co-chaired by Brooke Leland, managing partner at Jungle Media, and Shannon Lewis, President of the Canadian Media Directors’ Council. The Media category is sponsored by Snap Inc. 

In no particular order, the semi-finalists in the Media category are:

Anosognosia

o Teryn Clapp, Epitaph Group Inc, Ontario

o Anthony Da Rocha, Epitaph Group Inc, Ontario

Disrupt the Cycle

o Béa Beaini, Wavemaker, Quebec

o Maïlly Filin-Ficadière, Wavemaker, Quebec

Forgot Your Password?

o Rafaela Steiner, UM Canada, Ontario

o Riley Wolfe, UM Canada, Ontario

WAITVESTING

o Alphée Lamothe, Cossette Media, Quebec

o Gabriel Lafond, Cossette Media, Quebec

By your side

o Samuel David-Durocher, Cossette Media, Quebec

o Tristan Bonnot-Parent, Cossette Media, Quebec

PR Category

Competitors in the PR category were given 24 hours to create a compelling campaign that raises awareness and support for Baycrest’s ground breaking work in aging and brain health . The brief challenged teams to convey that Canadians can have agency over healthy aging by encouraging the adoption of key lifestyle changes shown to help prevent cognitive decline. Entries in the PR category were judged by a jury of industry leaders, co-chaired by Eva Salem, senior vice-president, marketing and brand at Canadian Tire Corporation, and Shauna Roe, vice president, creative director, Canada at Edelman Canada. New for this year, the PR category is sponsored by Edelman Canada.  

In no particular order, the semi-finalists in the PR category are:

Brain Barrier

o Patricia Vuckovic, Rethink PR, Ontario

o Sara Zivkovic, Rethink PR, Ontario

Memory Blocks

o Grace Lancefield, Narrative XPR, Ontario

o Maria Naqvi, Narrative XPR, Ontario

Wait...Didn't I JUST see this?

o Jessica Anderson, Craft Public Relations, Ontario

o Madeline Reston, APEX PR, Ontario

The #FADINGCITY

o Cara von Ende, No Fixed Address Inc., Ontario

o Reagan Sullivan, No Fixed Address, Ontario

Turn Your Brain

o Eno (Eno-Obong) Antai, Proof Strategies Inc, Ontario

o Laiba Fatima, Proof Strategies Inc, Ontario

Design Category

Competitors in the Design category were given 24 hours to create a brand identity for Baycrest’s annual Bike for Brain Health fundraising event. The challenge asked teams to carve out a distinctive visual identity that stands out in a crowded charitable landscape, while connecting the event to Baycrest’s mission to advance healthy aging. Entries in the Design category were judged by a jury of creative leaders, co-chaired by Laura Stein, Partner, chief creative officer, and Stephanie Yung, chief design officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo. 

In no particular order, the semi-finalists in the Design category are:

Let's get in formation for brain health

o Geneviève Jetté, LG2, Quebec

o Marianne St-Pierre, LG2, Quebec

Bike Path

o Jesse Shaw, Rethink, British Columbia

o Zoë Boudreau, Rethink, British Columbia

Protect Your Brain

o Angel Chun, Cossette, Ontario

o Sam Perrin, Cossette, Ontario

All you need is a bike

o Audrey Demers, maubau, Quebec

o Valérie Desjardins, maubau, Quebec

Outbike. Outthink. Outlast.

o Chen Shang, Media. Monks, Ontario

o Iris Ti, Monks, Ontario

Top 3 finalist teams announced in Print, Film & Digital

The top three teams in each of the Print, Film and Digital categories have been named as this year’s finalists. The Print and Film categories were judged by industry leaders spanning various backgrounds within the advertising and creative sectors, and co-chaired by Luc Du Sault, partner and CCO, LG2 Quebec, and Mary Maddever, EVP, Realscreen and strategy; editorial director, Brunico Communications. Entries in the Digital category were judged by a jury of creative leaders, co-chaired by Karen Howe, founder, The Township Group, and Sabaa Quao, president, PlusCo Venture Studio.

Print Category

Competitors in the Print category were given 24 hours to create a print ad that raises awareness and support for Baycrest’s ground breaking work in aging and brain health.

In no particular order, the finalists in the Print category are:

The Mindless Brain Exercise

o Laurent Tremblay, Rethink, Quebec

o Victor Pierre, Rethink, Quebec

Talk to Anyone

o An Trinh, FCB, Ontario

o Cristina Palmer Lemus, FCB, Ontario

Stretch Your Mind

o Naqsh Sagar, Wunder, Nova Scotia

o Rebecca Benjamin, Ray, Newfoundland and Labrador

Film Category

Competitors in the Digital category were given 24 hours to create a digital campaign that raises awareness and support for Baycrest’s work in aging and brain health.

In no particular order, the finalists in the Film category are:

Cognition Over Coolness

o Cameron Marshall, Publicis, Ontario

o Quinlan Bruce, Leo Burnett Toronto, Ontario

Take care of yourself

o Alexandre Pépin, LG2, Quebec

o Nicolas Robert, Carton Rouge, Quebec

The Trailer

o Roxanne Pelletier, LG2, Quebec

o Thomas Soto, Les Enfants, Quebec

Digital Category

Competitors in the Digital category were given 24 hours to create a digital campaign that raises awareness and support for Baycrest’s brain health work.

In no particular order, the finalists in the Digital category are:

NeuroLingo

o Anna Ira, Tadiem, Ontario

o Elyssa Biringer, Super Proper, Ontario

Restore Your Memories

o Mriga Schdeva, The Garden, Ontario

o Nuala Murray, The Garden, Ontario

The Fourth Ring

o Nicole Vasarevic, Cossette, Ontario

o Santana Symeonides, Cossette, Ontario

Winners for all categories will be revealed live on April 30th, at the CMDC Media Summit at the Toronto Design Exchange.

In addition to being crowned as Canada’s best, gold-winning teams also win a trip to Cannes, France, where they will represent Canada in the Global Young Lions Competition, taking place during the festival week from June 16th to 20th, 2025, and attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the largest gathering in the creative marketing community.

As the Official Canadian Representative for Cannes Lions and the Young Lions Competition Sponsor, The Globe and Mail awards a prize per gold-winning team, which includes registration fees for the Global Young Lions Competition, delegate passes to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, flights and accommodation.