The BASA Awards® is one of the largest and only independent business awards programs in Canada. At these awards, no participant will experience nepotism, be required to join any club, or pay anything apart from the entry fees to participate. Every business participating will be judged based on their work and the good they do to push the industry forward. click here

The Awards have 6 groups and over 150+ categories ranging from products, services, technology, and innovations for you to choose from. How many categories are there in the BASA Awards®? The BASA Awards® have 150+ categories for you to choose from. There is only one winner per category. All entries scoring 75% from judges will be named Finalists and submitted to public voting to increase their chances of becoming category winners.

The participant with the highest scores from both the public votes and Judges will be declared the category Winner and receive the Winner's certificate by mail as well as the digital seals and Winners digital kit. Businesses in the TopList will be awarded a digital certificate and the seals. Winners can commemorate their win by buying our custom-made Atlanta trophy.

Yes. The BASA Awards® Winners will have the opportunity to purchase an additional Trophy statuette. The Trophy Atlanta is 100% handmade exclusively for the BASA Awards® in Italy by the internationally acclaimed artist Ithaca.

There are numerous benefits to preparing, submitting entries, and winning the BASA Awards®. Simply sending an application will help you craft a brief and compelling success story of your company and the resilient hero you represent, which you can then use elsewhere. Whilst we can't mention all awards benefits here, we have compiled 15 reasons why you need to grab this opportunity and send in your application today.

All BASA Awards® Winners will receive national exposure and be featured on the awards website, and social media pages. The BASA Awards® marketing team will ensure to generate local, regional, and national exposure for all our winners.

Only small businesses operating in Canada can be nominated.

The BASA Awards® accepts entries exclusively from small businesses or startups operating in Canada. An entrepreneur or person looking to send an application can only be accepted if their entry represents a specific established and incorporated Canada-based company.

Yes. Please note that we don’t accept nominations from any large or medium-sized non-profits.

Yes, any organization can participate as long as they are not classified as medium or large companies.

All nominations close on 20 August, 2025.

Yes. Since the BASA Awards® is independent, we are funded by your nomination fees. See the Entry Fees section for more information.

Yes. The BASA Awards® organizers ensure that only authorized Judges will review entries and that no information about nominees is released to anyone else without prior approval and consent. We also strongly encourage all our applicants not to include company secrets or sensitive information they might not be comfortable sharing with the public, as all companies with a judging score of 75% and above will automatically be submitted to public voting. Furthermore, as an extra security measure, we provide an opportunity for BASA Awards category Winners and companies on the TopList to remove confidential information from their applications before publishing them on the award website.

The application requirements are loosely outlined because we understand that every organization is unique in its culture, accomplishments, and reasons for seeking recognition. The requirements are structured to allow each organization to identify and highlight its achievements. We did not want to narrow the award's focus by strictly defining the application requirements.

The BASA Awards® is judged by a panel of independent third-party industry leaders. The completed Panel of Judges lineup will be announced soon.

The BASA Awards® judging panel comprises third-party industry experts from corporations interested in giving back and promoting small business growth.

The BASA Awards® is judged by a panel of independent third-party industry leaders.

The BASA Awards® judging panel comprises third-party industry experts interested in giving back and promoting small business growth. Click here to read more.

To become a member of the BASA Awards® judging panel, complete the form here. If accepted, you can participate online at your convenience between August - October, 2025.

No, there will be no award ceremony broadcast for the 2025 Best of Canada Small Business Awards. All winners and finalists will be notified via email and have their certificates sent to their addresses.