Janet Beed Impact Award

Do you know someone who has made a significant contribution to improving the lives of family caregivers? Someone who is recognized as a driver of solution generation and collaboration with caregivers and system partners to address issues that impact caregivers in Ontario?

Maybe it’s someone you know or maybe it’s you! Now’s the time to recognize those who innovate, inspire and lead the way.

The recognition award is named after Janet Beed, in honour of her leadership and legacy in addressing the growing need for caregiver support in Ontario. In 2017, Janet was engaged by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to examine how to best support caregivers, and after extensive consultations, her recommendation was to create the Ontario Caregiver Organization.

To be considered for the award submit an application that includes the following materials, in English or French:

completed application form
one testimonial from someone who can speak to the impact of the nominee’s efforts
You may nominate more than one person. One application and one testimonial is required for each nomination

Deadline Date to Receive Nominations — Midnight February 2nd, 2026. One nominee will be formally recognized at OCO’s Caregiver Day Event on April 7, 2026.

Eligibility

Nominees must:

be a resident of Ontario
be 12 years of age or older
demonstrate extensive personal experience (past or present) providing unpaid care to a family member, partner, friend and/or neighbour in Ontario
demonstrate how they use(d) their lived caregiver experience to inform the positive change or impact on the caregiving landscape in Ontario
align with the values of the Ontario Caregiver Organization

Nominations are welcome for any individual who meets the eligibility criteria listed above.

The Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO) values the inherent worth of every person and all our differences, including age, ancestry, disability, gender expression, gender identity, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Submission Guidelines

Each submission must include a completed application form, answering the four questions below using one of the format options listed, and a testimonial from someone who can speak to the impact of the nominee’s efforts.

Nomination:

Submit your nomination using ONE of the following formats.

Written submission using application form below – max 650 words, OR
Video or audio recording (MP3, WAV, MP4, VID) – 3 minutes maximum, OR
Slide presentation (powerpoint, google slides) – 7 slides maximum, featuring up to 650 words total and/or visual elements (photos, art, mind maps, etc).

Testimonial:

Submit a testimonial using ONE of the following formats.

Written submissions (Word, link to Google doc) – 300 words maximum, OR
Video or audio recording (MP3, WAV, MP4, VID) – 2 minutes maximum, OR
Slide presentation (powerpoint, google slides) – 3 slides maximum, featuring up to 300 words total and/or visual elements (photos, art, mind maps, etc).

Application Form

Provide your name, phone number and email address. Should your nomination be successful, the OCO will contact you.

Your Full Name(Required)

Your Phone Number

Your Email Address(Required)

If you are choosing to submit a written application, use the text box below. If you are submitting using video, audio or slide presentation, please answer these questions in your chosen format and upload your submission.

Tell us a little bit about the nominee and their caregiving journey.

What problem or challenge(s) did they identify or experience as a caregiver, and how did it inspire them to take action to make a change in the caregiving landscape in Ontario?

What specifically did they do to advocate, raise awareness and/or the problem or challenge, and how did they collaborate with others to do so?

Describe the impact this has had on caregivers and/or the landscape of caregiving in Ontario.

File

Max. file size: 128 MB.

Please provide one testimonial from someone who can speak to the impact of the nominee’s efforts.

300 word maximum

File

Max. file size: 128 MB.

Evaluation

Submissions will be evaluated against the following criteria:

Solutions oriented – The nominee has demonstrated an awareness of the emerging and diverse needs of caregivers, identified specific solutions to meet the needs, and took action to support the generation of solutions.

Impact – The impact of the nominee’s work is demonstrated by increased awareness, new initiatives and/or measurable change to systems that impact caregivers, including systemic barriers that marginalized caregivers may face. Activities may include sharing lived experience, working group, advisory group and/or network participation, and/or advocacy.

Collaboration – The nominee deeply values and engages with the diverse contributions of others and contributes to exceptional collaboration and synergy in achieving a common goal.

Champion – The nominee embodies passion for the issues facing caregivers and a person commitment to addressing them with compassion. The nominee demonstrates support for inclusion, diversity equity and accessibility.

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