The Canadian Creators Collective (CCC) is pleased to announce the launch of the New Prix Design Émergent CCC Emerging Design Awards. Established to identify and champion the next generation of Canadian design talent, this initiative seeks to honour practices that demonstrate bold innovation and exceptional savoir-faire.

A commitment to Canadian excellence

The CCC seeks to consolidate and support the companies and studios that make up the Canadian design panorama through international exhibitions that expand opportunities abroad. In 2020, the organization created Fictions. Working with curator Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, an exhibition of eight creators was mounted, including Lambert et fils, Atelier Zébulon Perron, Claste Collection, Yannick Pouliot, Loïc Bard, SSSVLL, Pascale Girardin, and David Umemoto. Due to the global pandemic, the exhibition was not shown at the Salone del Mobile as planned, but was instead broadcast via video from Montreal. The exhibition was on the cover of Wallpaper Magazine in the January 2021 issue.

Fostering the emergence of new talent

Since its founding in 2018 by Samuel Lambert, Quinlan Osborne, and Zébulon Perron, the CCC has focused on the professional trajectories of young Canadian designers. The CCC fosters the emergence of new talent by connecting them with prominent professionals from around the world, by disseminating know-how, and by including designers at all stages of practice in international exhibitions. When a critical need for industry-recognized validation for young creators was identified, this new awards program was initiated. Intended to serve as a professional catalyst, the Prix Design Émergent CCC Emerging Design Awards provides winners with the visibility and credentials necessary to access international grants, residencies, and global networks.

High-level international jury

We are pleased to announce the international jury for the 2026 edition of the Awards. The jury is composed of a panel of five influential figures from the industry, including: Anna Caradeuc, a New York-based publicist and creative strategist renowned for her influence on the collectible design market; Spanish designer Manu Bañó, whose work at EWE Studio in Mexico bridges traditional Mexican craftsmanship and contemporary aesthetics; Kwangho Lee, a South Korean designer who combines traditional craftsmanship with modern design, and whose works are part of the permanent collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and SFMOMA; Philippe Malouin, a Canadian industrial designer whose London-based studio is internationally recognized for its experimental and minimalist approach to furniture, lighting, and objects, in collaboration with brands such as Flos, Kvadrat, and Umbra; and Laura May Todd, Milan correspondent for Wallpaper* magazine, a leading journalist and editor whose critical perspective shapes the narrative around contemporary architecture and interiors.

Together, they bring valuable expertise and a diverse, multidisciplinary perspective to the selection process.

Award categories

Form-giving
Material creations/ objects
Creating tangible objects: building, sculpting, molding, or cutting away. Creating artefacts that populate spaces and the imaginary. Pushing boundaries, imbuing objects with meaning, with values, and improving the human experience through form. No 3D or otherwise non-built objects are accepted in this category.

Spatiality
Spaces/ urban/ interiors
Giving meaning to the world around you, and changing the world through arranging, organizing, and creating. We hope to see projects that push the limits of what is expected and steer the built world toward a more sustainable, more human, and more beautiful direction.

In the Ether
Virtual/ digital/ immaterial/ service design
Whether we are consciously dematerializing to become more sustainable, or simply innovating in non-material spaces like the internet, virtual reality, and the metaverse, more and more design now takes place in digital spaces. In this category, we want to see projects that leverage new technologies, digital spaces, and the non-built environment (including systems design, reuse strategies, and other approaches to dematerializing objects and reshaping lifestyles).

Future-building
Research projects/ new materials/ speculative design/ new technologies/ ideas
This category is for the designers of the future. Here is where we want to hear about all the ways design can be speculative, transformative, and exploratory. Tell us about your weirdly specific research, development of new materials, and new processes. We want to hear your insights on where the world is going and how design could/will/should develop to meet that future.

Eligibility and winners

The Award is open to designers, studios, and collectives based in Canada whose professional practice does not exceed six (6) years.

The overall winner, the Emerging Designer (or Designers, in the case of a design team or studio) of the Year, will be recognized as the county’s most exceptional new talent of 2026. A student will also be recognized as the Student Designer of the Year. Beyond the prestige of the title, winners will receive significant promotional support through the CCC’s national media partners and the v2com newswire. The winner of the Form-Giving category will be awarded a dedicated booth at Studio North during IDS 2027 in Toronto and given the chance to showcase their work at the most important design trade show in Canada.

Photography: Alex Lesage

Art Direction: Principal