Typically held in conjunction with the Congress trade show and conference in January, Landscape Ontario’s annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony will move to an entirely online event for 2021 due to public gathering restrictions under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Awards for the 48th edition of the member recognition program will be announced online Feb. 4, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.

Despite the many challenges and restrictions of Covid-19, program coordinator Amy Buchanan says the total number of entries submitted by LO members for this year’s program exceeded expectations and is not far off from previous years. Buchanan says some of the changes included the creation of a new online system for judges who could not congregate in person.

The same production company that has produced the live event for many years is working on the virtual ceremony, which promises to be just as entertaining as the in-person event. For the past few years the awards ceremony has also been live streamed via YouTube and Facebook because the maximum seating capacity of the venue had been reached.

The awards ceremony is presented by G&L Group, with supporting partners: Connon Nurseries, SiteOne Landscape Supply, and Miller Compost.

Full details on the event will be posted to LOawards.com, HortTrades.com/events and in LO’s weekly enews.