The Globe and Mail Announces the 2025 Young Lions Canadian Competition Winners

​The Globe and Mail, the Official Festival Representative in Canada for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has announced its gold-winning teams for the 2025 Canadian Young Lions Competition in the Marketers, Media, PR, Design, Print, Film, Digital categories.

Modeled after the Cannes Global Young Lions Competition, entrants received a brief and had to complete the challenge for their respective category within a 24- or 48-hour time period.

Each year the competition jury chairs select a non-profit organisation as the subject of the competition briefs. This year’s selected charity was Baycrest Foundation, and the primary goal of each brief was to drive awareness and support for Baycrest’s groundbreaking 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, innovation and education, their domestic and international clinical training programs are helping to shape the future of aging and brain health.

Competition submission entries were judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders chaired by: Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer, Kruger Products Inc. (Marketers); Brooke Leland, Managing Partner at Mekanism Media Canada, and Shannon Lewis, President of the Canadian Media Directors’ Council (Media); Eva Salem, Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Brand at Canadian Tire Corporation, and Shauna Roe, Vice President, Creative Director, Canada at Edelman Canada (PR); Laura Stein, Partner, Chief Creative Officer, and Stephanie Yung, Chief Design Officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo (Design); Luc Du Sault, Partner and CCO, LG2 Quebec, and Mary Maddever, EVP, Realscreen & Strategy, Editorial Director, Brunico Communications (Print and Film); Karen Howe, Founder, The Township Group, and Sabaa Quao, President, PlusCo Venture Studio (Digital).

Announced at the CMDC Media Summit on April 30th, 2025, the medal winners for the 2025 Canadian Young Lions competition are:

Marketers Category, sponsored by Interac

Gold: Bring Back the Stars

-Arielle Uwonkunda, Marketing Manager, Molson Coors Beverage Company

- Suzanne Liu, Senior Partner Manager, Uber

Silver: BRAIN CHANGER: PUT YOUR BRAIN IN THE GAME

- Mateo Molinaro, Strategist - Commercial Strategy, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE)

- Tristan Ruffo St-Amour, Account Manager – Global Partnership Marketing, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE)

Bronze: LiveYoung: one sip, one step at a time

- Caroline Pellegrini, Assistant Brand Manager - Activia, Danone Canada

- Katherine Ball, E-commerce Manager, Danone Canada

Media Category, sponsored by Snap Inc.

Gold: By your side

- Samuel David-Durocher, Business Intelligence Analyst, Cossette Media

- Tristan Bonnot-Parent, Product Development Supervisor, Cossette Media

Silver: Anosognosia

- Teryn Clapp, Integrated Planning Senior Specialist, Epitaph Group Inc

- Anthony Da Rocha, Integrated Planning Specialist, Epitaph Group Inc

Bronze: Forgot Your Password?

- Rafaela Steiner, Planner, UM Canada

- Riley Wolfe, Planner, UM Canada

PR Category, sponsored by Edelman Canada

Gold: The #FADINGCITY

- Cara von Ende, Account Supervisor, No Fixed Address

- Reagan Sullivan, Project Manager, No Fixed Address

Silver: Brain Barrier

- Patricia Vuckovic, PR Manager, Rethink

- Sara Zivkovic, PR Coordinator, Rethink

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

- Jessica Anderson, Account Manager, Craft Public Relations

- Madeline Reston, Consultant, APEX PR

Design Category

Gold: Bike Path

- Jesse Shaw, Sr. Motion Designer, Rethink

- Zoë Boudreau, Associate Creative Director, Design, Rethink

Silver: Outbike. Outthink. Outlast.

- Chen Shang, Senior Art Designer, Monks

- Iris Ti, Senior Art Designer, Monks

Bronze: Let's get in formation for brain health

- Geneviève Jetté, Copywriter, LG2

- Marianne St-Pierre, Graphic Designer, LG2

Print Category

Gold: The Mindless Brain Exercise

- Laurent Tremblay, Copywriter, Rethink

- Victor Pierre, Art Director, Rethink

Silver: Talk to Anyone

- An Trinh, Copywriter, FCB

- Cristina Palmer Lemus, Junior Art Director, FCB

Bronze: Stretch Your Mind

- Naqsh Sagar, Designer, Wunder Inc.

- Rebecca Benjamin, Junior Copywriter, Ray

Film Category

Gold: Take care of yourself

- Alexandre Pépin, Creative Copywriter, LG2

- Nicolas Robert, Executive producer and partner, Carton Rouge

Silver: Cognition Over Coolness

- Cameron Marshall, Director of Photography, Publicis

- Quinlan Bruce, Junior Copywriter, Leo Burnett Canada

Bronze: The Trailer

- Roxanne Pelletier, Copywriter, LG2

- Thomas Soto, Director, Les Enfants

Digital Category

Gold: NeuroLingo

- Anna Ira, Coordinator, Social, Tadiem

- Elyssa Biringer, UI Designer, Super Proper

Silver: Restore Your Memories

- Mriga Suchdeva, Senior Art Director, The Garden

- Nuala Murray, Senior Copywriter, The Garden

Bronze: The Fourth Ring

- Nicole Vasarevic, Senior Digital Strategist, Cossette Media

- Santana Symeonides, Account Supervisor, Cossette Media

You can view all the winning work here.

“We’re incredibly proud of the diverse talent represented in this year’s competition – from coast to coast and across two newly launched categories, PR and Design, which brought even more bold thinking into the mix. The calibre of submissions this year was exceptional.” says Marcin Zerek, Head of Trade Marketing, The Globe and Mail. “This competition is a launchpad for Canada’s next generation of creative leaders, and these finalists are a strong reflection of our industry’s future.”

“The launch of the PR category this year marks an exciting new chapter for the Young Lions in Canada,” says Bianca Freedman, CEO, Edelman Canada. “We’re honoured to support emerging storytellers who are using creativity to tackle real-world challenges and we’re excited to see their work take the spotlight in Cannes.”

“It’s been so exciting and inspiring to see the exceptional quality of passion and ideation in the Young Lions Competition Marketing category. It makes us proud to know that we’ll have such strong representation for Canada on the stage at Cannes, and Interac is so pleased to be able to provide support for this important category, and play a role in nurturing this generation of marketing talent,” says Matt Houghton, Digital and Integrated Marketing Leader, Interac.

"Canadian creative talent should be celebrated loudly - and we are proud to be part of this incredible opportunity to uplift the future of Canada's media industry and provide the recognition they deserve” says Heather Robertson, Sr. Manager, Americas Marketing at Snap Inc. “Congratulations to this year's Young Lions winners; we look forward to cheering for them on the world stage in Cannes."

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, June 16 to 20, 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.

Canada rank fifth globally in medals won in Young Lions history.

To view the profiles of this year’s competition jurors please visit https://globeandmailyounglions.ca/jury/.

For complete eligibility criteria and competition guidelines, refer to the Official Rules and Regulations.