Awards
Celebrating The Vehicles That Matter Most
The Vicarious Awards recognize the most compelling vehicles and motorcycles available to Canadian consumers today. They are built around real-world experience, thoughtful evaluation, and informed judgement; not hype, headlines, or specification sheets.
These awards exist to answer a simple question: Which vehicles truly stand out when you live with them?
How The Vicarious Awards Are Different
Many awards focus on novelty, marketing moments, or single test events. The Vicarious Awards take a different approach.
Vehicles are evaluated:
- Over time, not in a single afternoon
- In real-world conditions, not just controlled environments
- By experienced automotive journalists and industry experts
- With an emphasis on execution, relevance, and overall excellence
Newness alone is not enough. The best vehicle wins; whether it’s all-new, redesigned, or a proven standout that continues to lead its segment.
Who Decides The Winners?
The Vicarious Awards are judged by an independent panel of experienced automotive journalists and industry experts.
Each juror:
- Evaluates only vehicles they have personally driven or ridden
- Scores vehicles based on real-world use and category intent
- Abstains where sufficient experience does not exist
- Operates independently of advertising, sponsorship, or commercial influence
Final decisions are reached through structured scoring and panel deliberation.
How Vehicles Are Evaluated
The Vicarious Awards are built around a structured, experience-led evaluation process designed to reflect how vehicles are actually used and lived with.
Rather than relying on a single test or moment in time, vehicles are assessed over extended periods and across real-world conditions. Jurors consider how a vehicle performs as a complete package, weighing its strengths, compromises, and overall coherence within its intended category.
Evaluation focuses on:
- Real-world usability and drivability
- Quality of execution and attention to detail
- Relevance within the current market
- How convincingly a vehicle delivers on its purpose
Final award decisions are informed by both individual evaluation and collective deliberation, ensuring that winners reflect thoughtful consensus rather than isolated impressions.
While the framework is structured, judgement remains central; because great vehicles are more than the sum of their specifications.
The Vicarious Awards 2026 refer to the awards cycle, not a vehicle’s manufacturer-designated model year.
Eligibility is based on when a vehicle is introduced to the Canadian market, not whether it carries a 2026 or 2027 badge. This reflects how vehicles are actually launched, sold, and experienced by consumers.
Electrified vehicles; including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery-electric vehicles, are evaluated on merit, not separated by technology alone.
An electrified vehicle may be considered both for Electrified Vehicle of the Year and for its broader category (such as Car, CUV, or SUV), where appropriate.
Because the Vicarious Awards are launching for the first time, the inaugural eligibility window spans a longer period to establish a fair baseline.
The extended Year One window reflects the inaugural launch of the Vicarious Awards. Subsequent award cycles will operate on a standard annual eligibility window.
Winners are announced following a defined judging and deliberation period.
A Vicarious Award is meant to signify:
- Editorial credibility
- Real-world excellence
- Thoughtful evaluation
- A vehicle worth your attention
It is not a participation award, nor is it driven by marketing spend or launch cycles.
Why It Matters
Choosing a vehicle is a major decision. The Vicarious Awards are designed to help cut through the noise and highlight the vehicles that genuinely deliver, whether you’re shopping now or simply following the evolution of the automotive landscape.
Because great vehicles should be judged the way they’re actually used.