A group looking to celebrate young francophone leaders was in town this week.

Dozens of people attended an event at Collège Boréal to mingle and learn more about the RelèveON Awards.

Executive director of Club canadien de Toronto Richard Kempler talked about how easy it is to nominate someone.

"The idea is to highlight the achievements of young francophone leaders," said Kempler.

There are five categories, young professional, young entrepreneur, young manager, young inclusive leader, and the jury’s favourite.

Each winner receives career mentoring and recognition for their work. The value of each award is $2,000.

“People are a bit shy, so we now have a feature on our website where you can propose a candidate,” said Kempler. “So our team will contact them and say they might be a good fit, and they should apply.”

Collège Boréal hosted the event to drum up interest in the community.

The award started with its focus on the community in Toronto and has expanded to include francophone communities and business leaders all over Ontario.

“Given the sheer success of the initiative, we decided to go province-wide,” said Kempler. “From then on, in 2019, we’ve had more than half the total candidates coming from outside the GTA, and 25 per cent coming from the north.”

Nominees must be at least 18 years old but not over 40 years. The candidate must be able to speak French and people can only apply in one category.

Applications are open until March 17 and can be submitted online, and finalists will be announced on May 9, with the gala to celebrate the winners on June 15 in Toronto.

Amanda Rabski-McColl, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TimminsToday.com