Five takeaways from the 2026 Canadian Sponsorship Marketing Awards

The 2026 Canadian Sponsorship Marketing Awards recognized some outstanding work from brands, properties and agencies across the country.

Looking through this year's winners and hearing the judges' perspectives on what made these campaigns successful, there were a few things that stood out to me.

Some of the campaigns found interesting ways to connect a brand's core business with its sponsorship activity. Others demonstrated the value of understanding a particular audience or community, or showed how established partnerships can continue to evolve.

Here are five takeaways that I think are worth highlighting:

1. The opportunity to create value beyond a single activation

RBC Community Junior Golf, which won Best in Show, is a good example of a sponsorship program designed to deliver something beyond an initial interaction.

RBC and Golf Canada aren't just introducing young Canadians to golf. They've created a pathway that allows youth to try the sport for free at schools and community centres, and then continue playing at participating municipal courses at an affordable rate.

That's an important distinction. Removing the initial barrier to participation is one thing, but creating opportunities for people to stay involved is where the longer-term impact can really take shape.

Team Canada, named Property of the Year, also demonstrated how a sponsorship platform can connect short-term experiences with broader objectives. Alongside its Olympic campaign and fan engagement initiatives, the Canadian Olympic Committee launched Team Canada 2035, with the goal of increasing participation in organized sport among Canadian children.

Neither example is simply about generating attention around a major event. They're also using the sponsorship platform to help build participation and engagement over time.

2. Being relevant to a particular audience can be more powerful than trying to appeal to everyone

One of my favourite examples from this year's winners was TurboImpôt's activation at the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada.

Rather than taking a national campaign and adapting it for Quebec, the team built something specifically for that market. They took inspiration from a groundhog that had attracted attention at a previous Grand

Prix and made it central to their activation.

It's a relatively simple idea, but it worked because it was specific to the audience and the event. It wouldn't necessarily translate to another market, and that's part of what made it interesting.

Rogers' Bring It Home campaign during the Toronto Blue Jays' 2025 postseason was another example of understanding the moment.

With demand for tickets exceptionally high, Rogers gave fans opportunities to attend games while activating across its various marketing channels.

What impressed the judges wasn't just the scale of the campaign, but how quickly Rogers was able to respond and coordinate across a large organization.

Both campaigns are reminders that you don't necessarily need an elaborate concept to create an effective activation. Understanding what matters to the audience, and responding in a relevant way, can be just as important.

3. Sponsorships become particularly interesting when they put a brand's actual capabilities to work

This was probably my biggest takeaway from this year's winners.

There's a difference between a sponsorship that provides a platform for a brand to communicate something about itself and one that allows the brand to actually demonstrate what it does.

SAP's NHL Front Office App campaign, which won Best New Initiative, is a great example.

SAP took its expertise in technology and data-driven decision-making and applied it to something that hockey fans are interested in: roster management, trades and the salary cap.

It's a clever way to make a B2B technology proposition relevant to a consumer audience. Rather than simply telling people about its capabilities, SAP found a way to demonstrate them through the partnership.

Purolator and CFL Tackle Hunger is another example, although the approach is very different.

Purolator's ability to collect, transport and distribute goods is directly relevant to the program's objective of getting food donations to communities in need. Its core business capabilities are an important part of what makes the partnership work.

And Maple Leaf Foods' Victory. But First, Protein campaign created a natural connection between the company's products and the role of nutrition in elite sport. The judges also highlighted the deliberate process the brand used to select an athlete ambassador who was a strong fit.

What I find interesting about these examples is that the brands aren't just borrowing the credibility or audience of a sports property. They're bringing something of their own to the table.

And when that happens, there's an opportunity to create a sponsorship that's not only more authentic, but also harder for a competing brand to replicate.

4. Long-standing partnerships still need to evolve

It's easy to focus on new partnerships and innovative activations, but some of the most interesting examples this year came from relationships that have been around for a long time.

BMO's partnership with the Calgary Stampede has an incredible amount of history behind it. What's interesting is how the brand continues to find ways to make that relationship relevant to new audiences.

Whether through family-focused activations, community engagement or agricultural recognition programs, BMO is finding new ways to bring people into an experience that already has a strong place in Canadian culture.

Purolator and CFL Tackle Hunger offers another example.

The judges noted that, after seeing food donations decline, the partners changed their approach by working more closely with individual CFL teams and establishing more localized objectives.

Rather than continuing to run the same program in the same way, they identified an issue and made adjustments.

Kraft Hockeyville, recognized for its 20th anniversary, is another reminder of how valuable an established sponsorship platform can become over time.

There's something to be said for the familiarity and recognition that a long-running partnership can build , and the power of a subtle refresh to a legacy program. By extending reach and relevancy with the introduction of regional provincial/territory winners, Kraft Hockeyville was able to drive interest and momentum across the country and deepen the program’s contributions to community rinks in Canada.

5. Sponsorship measurement needs to reflect what you're actually trying to accomplish

One of the things I found interesting when looking across this year's winners was how different their objectives were.

For RBC Community Junior Golf, an important measure of success is whether the program is reaching underserved communities and helping more young people participate in golf.

For TurboImpôt, brand awareness and engagement within the Quebec market were   important.

For Maple Leaf Foods, the connection between the Olympic partnership, its     products and consumer purchasing behaviour was particularly relevant.

For Purolator, the program's ability to generate and distribute food donations is central to evaluating its success.

Those are very different objectives, and they shouldn't necessarily be evaluated in the same way.

There's a tendency in sponsorship to look for a common set of metrics that can be applied across every partnership. While some consistency is certainly valuable, there's also a risk of losing sight of what each sponsorship was actually intended to accomplish.

The measurement conversation needs to start with the objectives of the partnership, not simply the data that's available.

Final thoughts

What I enjoyed about reviewing this year's winners was seeing how many different approaches can lead to successful sponsorship programs.

Some of the best ideas were relatively simple. Others required significant coordination or the willingness to rethink an established approach.

The examples that stood out most to me were the ones where the brand and property were each bringing something unique to the partnership.

SAP has technology and expertise that can make a hockey-related experience more interesting. Purolator has infrastructure that helps turn a community initiative into something tangible. RBC and Golf Canada can work together to make golf more accessible and create opportunities for people to stay involved.

These are things that go beyond placing a logo on an asset or finding creative ways to generate impressions.

It's a useful reminder that one of the most important questions in sponsorship development isn't just what exposure or access a partnership can provide. It's what the brand and property can accomplish together that neither could do as effectively on their own.

The 2026 Sponsorship Marketing Awards were presented by the Sponsorship Marketing Council Canada (SMCC). View the complete list of winners.