Code of conduct

The Prime Minister's Awards (PMA) program is the highest national award for K-12 teachers and early childhood educators in Canada. National level awards are presented personally by the Prime Minister or his designate at a ceremony in Ottawa and recipients' achievements are celebrated in their home communities. The PMA s honour and promote the tremendous contribution outstanding educators have made to the children and students they teach, as well as their colleagues, their schools and centres and communities.

Prime Minister's Awards recipients represent the "best of the best" in Canadian education. Status as a PMA recipient carries with it considerable responsibility in terms of the example recipients set in the eyes of their peers, their students, their superiors and their communities as a whole. The highest standards of ethical conduct and excellence are a key characteristic of the PMA program embodied in the outstanding men and women recipients who are honoured with this award.

All PMA recipients are expected to conform to the following Code of Conduct:

  • Recipients will be in possession of a valid teaching or early childhood education certificate.
  • Recipients will be employed at an eligible Canadian primary or secondary school or a licensed Canadian early childcare setting, as defined by provincial or government regulations, at the time of nomination. Note: This requirement is waived for nominees who work in Aboriginal Head Start sites on and off reserve or in early childhood education settings on-reserve where there is no applicable provincial or territorial government licensing.
  • Recipients will not exploit their status as a PMA recipient for commercial gain.
  • Recipients will not use the PMA or Government of Canada logo/word mark/graphic identifiers without the explicit permission of the PMA program. The PMA graphic identifier cannot be used to market products or for other commercial purposes.
  • Recipients will not abuse their status as a PMA recipient to advance or promote political views.
  • Recipients will deal with media inquiries with respect to the PMA in a fair, polite and non-partisan manner.
  • Recipients will conduct themselves in a professional manner in accordance with the standards set out by their teaching or early learning associations. Failure to do so would be seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the PMA program, or to detract from the original conditions upon which the award was given.
  • Recipients must not have been subject to official professional sanction by an adjudicating body, professional association or other organization.
  • Recipients must not have been convicted of a criminal offence in which they have not received a pardon for.

The above standards are fundamental to being selected as a PMA recipient. Should recipients fail to abide by these standards, the PMA program reserves the right to remove the recipient's name/school/centre affiliation from its website and from any other vehicle it may use to promote exemplary teaching and early childhood education in Canada. This would immediately apply in cases where a teaching or early childhood education certification has been withdrawn for reasons of professional misconduct and instances in which a recipient has been convicted of a criminal offence.