2025 Kitchener's Great Places Awards nominations are now open!

Kitchener, Ontario - The Kitchener Great Places Awards are back for 2025, and nominations are now open. The awards celebrate outstanding development projects that showcase design excellence and innovation in urban design, sustainability and heritage. This year the awards have added a new category, the Affordable Housing Solutions Award.

The Great Places Awards recognize the individuals, businesses and organizations making significant contributions to the Kitchener landscape that foster community pride, promote safety and well-being and enhances residents' quality of life.

“We’ve seen many exciting development projects come to life in Kitchener since our last Great Places Awards in 2023,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “As housing remains a critical issue for our city, I’m especially excited to see what nominations will come forward in the new Affordable Housing Solutions category. These projects reflect our council’s commitment to fostering innovative solutions that address this pressing need and deserve to be celebrated along with all of our other Great Places awards.”

This year's award nomination categories include:

Nominations are open until Wednesday, April 30. Anyone can nominate a project. Residents are encouraged to explore their neighbourhoods and the places they visit to identify developments or improvements completed in the past two years. The awards also feature categories for student and master planning projects. Nominations are open now and can be submitted on the Great Places Awards web page.

“We’ve seen wonderful variety and innovation in the development projects coming online in the last two years,” said Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee Chair, Paul Singh. “I encourage anyone passionate about Kitchener and the growth of our built environment to nominate their favourite project and encourage their friends and family to vote when the People’s Choice voting launches later this summer.”

The City’s awards planning committee is also searching for professionals in various fields, including planning, urban design and sustainability, heritage conservation, affordable housing, social services and architecture to be part of a jury panel that will later help section award winners. Interested experts and academics are encouraged to apply. Applications must be submitted through the Great Places Awards web page.

Kitchener’s Great Places Awards celebrate the people, businesses, and organizations that make Kitchener a wonderful place to live, work, and play. To learn more about the awards program, nominate a project or apply to be part of a jury panel, visit kitchener.ca/greatplaces.