Art Competition

Wildlife Habitat Canada invites Canadian wildlife artists to participate in our national wildlife art competition, which is held annually to select the Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print image.

Registration for the 2025 art competition is now closed.

Our National Wildlife Art Competition

Art Competition for the Conservation Stamp Image

Dates to Remember:

Intent to Participate August 25, 2023

  • Invited Artists – please complete the form here
  • New Artists – please email Kylie Graham to apply to become an Invited Artist

Paintings Due to WHC Office: October 31, 2023

Art Competition: mid-November

Decision Letters to Artists: mid-December

Stamp Launch: April 1, 2025

2025 Art Competition - Closed

2025 Art Competition

The 2025 art competition is now closed for entry.

This years featured species is the Greater Scaup!

New Artists interested in competing must submit samples of their wildlife art to Kylie at kgraham@whc.org for consideration.

Previously invited artists are encouraged to submit their Intent to Participate form electronically.

See below for more information.

Photo Credit: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Scaup/lifehistory 

2024 Art Competition - Closed

2024 Art Competition

The winning image will be unveiled on April 1, 2024.  

The featured species is the Bufflehead!

2023 Art Competition - Closed

2023 Art Competition

THE COMPETITION HAS NOW PASSED

The winning painting features the Ring-necked Duck by artist Isabelle Collin from Québec.

The painting is entitled “Boreal Mist – Ring-necked Ducks”.

Click here to learn more about this year’s winner.

How to Enter the Competition

Art Competition for the Conservation Stamp Image

The 2025 art competition is now open for registration. 

 

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY

  • Canadian citizens and landed immigrants are eligible to participate in the art competition at the invitation of Wildlife Habitat Canada. If the participant is under the age of 18, a letter of consent signed by the parent(s) or legal guardian is required and must accompany the confirmation of intent to participate.
  • Persons who have previously won the art competition during the preceding three (3) years, are ineligible to submit an entry in the current year’s art competition (E.g. if you won the 2021 Art Competition, the next time you can compete is the 2025 Art Competition).
  • Members of the art competition judging panel, employees and members of the Board of Directors of Wildlife Habitat Canada, employees of the Federal Department of the Environment or Members of Parliament and their immediate families and relatives are ineligible to submit an entry.
Invited Artist - Submission Procedure

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

STEP 1
Review our Art Competition Info Package

STEP 2
Read, sign and submit Intent to Participate Form  (before August 25, 2023)

STEP 3
Start painting!

STEP 4
The following items must be submitted and received by WHC upon deadline:
• Painting submission including painting title
• One signed copy of the 2025 Wildlife Habitat Canada-Art Agreement

Please note:

  • Missing any of these steps and/or deadlines may disqualify your painting submission. Please contact us immediately if you think you will miss a deadline.
  • We encourage everyone to use our online process as much as possible to ensure accuracy, reduce paper waste, and avoid delayed mailings.
  • Please email Jennifer at jcollard@whc.org when you are ready to ship your painting. WHC is no longer requiring an entry fee and will be covering shipping expenses for all artists.
Become an Invited Artist

Although the Art Competition is by invitation only, Wildlife Habitat Canada welcomes new Canadian wildlife artists that may be interested in submitting a piece to the competition.

For new Canadian wildlife artists wishing to participate in the competition, please send an artist CV and website link where your artwork can be viewed (or provide samples of your work) to kgraham@whc.org.

Technical Requirements of the Competition

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ENTRY

  • Invited artists must submit only one (1) original entry.
  • Entries must be an original multi-coloured painting in the artist’s choice of medium (no reproductions).
    • Please Note: Pastel submissions will no longer be accepted (as of 2018) due to the fragile nature of the piece and challenges associated with the reproduction of Stamp products.
    • Please Note: at this time we are accepting original paintings and are not currently accepting digital painting pieces.
  • Submissions must be one of the following to be accepted;
    (1)12” x 18”,
    (2) 12” x 16”,
    (3) 11”x 14”, or
    (4) 6” x 8”
  • The painting must portray the eligible waterfowl species / migratory game bird in its breeding plumage and natural habitat during breeding season.
  • The habitat of the species must be clearly defined. A landscape design must be incorporated into the painting along with the traditional image of the waterfowl.
Stamp Cropping Considerations

REPRODUCTIONS OF THE WINNING PAINTING:

  • The painting must be painted in such a way that the painting (or the cropped portion of the painting) can effectively be reduced to Stamp size and Print size:
    o The Stamp size: 1 1/4″ x 2″
    o The Print size: 6 1/2″ x 9″
  • Sufficient tranquil area must be provided around the eligible bird to allow for the placement of required Stamp text (see Stamp Crop Example of the 2016 winning painting, below):
  • “Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp
    [YEAR]
    Timbre sur la conservation des habitats fauniques du Canada
    $8.50″

Stamp Crop Example
Original Submission with Crop Outline

Stamp Reproduction of the Cropped Painting

Judging Criteria

JUDGING CRITERIA

  • A minimum of five independent judges are selected for the panel, including an ornithologist, past Conservation Stamp artist winner, and a representative of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
  • Judging criteria includes:
    o  Anatomical and habitat accuracy as depicted in breeding plumage and season;
    o  Artistic composition;
    o  Originality;
    o  Technical suitability for reproduction as a Stamp and a lithographic Print.

Previous Competitive Entries

Every year, WHC receives numerous paintings for the Art Competition. Each one is meticulously painted by a Canadian artist and is unique, offering a different perspective of the selected species. While we are limited to choosing only one finalist as the winning painting, the quality of art that we receive does not go unnoticed and we would like to showcase it.

 Click on the images below to see the art entries that we have received over the past few years.

2023 Entries

2022 Entries

2021 Entries

2020 Entries

2019 Entries

2018 Entries

2017 Entries

2016 Entries

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