The Laureate program is distinguished by the rigour of the nomination and evaluation processes. Each year, 3000+ industry members are invited to nominate dealers for a Laureate award. The delegates include association member dealers, manufacturing company staff, supplier company staff and association executives. An independent third party administrator handles the nomination process in a confidential manner at arms' length from CADA. Dealer self-nomination is not accepted. A three-phase process is used to evaluate candidates.
Phase I
Candidates are validated as excellent all-around dealers in good standing with manufacturers, provincial associations and provincial/federal industry regulators. Candidates who meet the criteria are recognized as official nominees.
Phase II
Official nominees complete a questionnaire specific to their category of nomination and derived from the CADA Charter. Responses are assessed by a third-party administrator to generate a list of five national finalists for each category.
Phase III
The Ivey Business School at Western University, led by the Director of the PhD program, selects one Laureate in each of the three categories. The winning Laureates are those who are judged by Ivey to best reflect the spirit of the CADA Charter.
Rules of Accepting Nomination
In order to accept a nomination, official nominees must abide by the following rules:
- A dealer may only accept a Laureate nomination and/or a Laureate award in the categories of Ambassadorship or Business Innovation if they are an active dealer in good standing with at least one manufacturer at the time of announcement by CADA.
- A dealer may only accept a Laureate nomination and/or a Laureate award in the category of Retail Operations if they are an active dealer in good standing with the manufacturer for which they have been nominated.
- A dealer may only accept a Laureate nomination and/or a Laureate award if they are a member in good standing with their local provincial association.
- If a dealer who accepts a Laureate nomination and/or a Laureate award does not meet the above criteria, or provided false information when accepting the Laureate nomination via the Laureate nominee website, CADA reserves the right to revoke the nomination and/or award.
- If a dealer who accepts a Laureate nomination and/or a Laureate award is later convicted of an offence by a criminal court or a provincial/federal industry regulator, CADA reserves the right to revoke the Laureate nomination and/or Laureate award.
- The use of AI software is not permitted when completing the Laureate nominee questionnaire.