Massey Medals for Architecture

Massey Medals were awards in Canadian architecture that were presented from 1950 to 1970. In 1950, Vincent Massey announced a "Scheme for the Award of Massey Medals in Architecture by the Massey Foundation" with the goal of recognizing “outstanding examples of Canadian achievement in the fields of architecture and thus to give encouragement to the members of the architectural profession and to promote public interest in their work".

Working in consultation with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), awards were made in 1950, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, and 1970. The structure of the awards varied over the years (usage of project categories, gold and silver medals, inclusion of mentions as part of the results, recognition of consultants, etc.).

As Canada’s first national architectural awards program, the Massey Medals for Architecture program is regarded as an important step in elevating public awareness of modern architecture in the nation.

Notable architects and architectural firms which received the award included:

In later year’s, criticism of the awards program’s selection of winners (with many considering mediocre projects being awarded instead of clearly superior projects) was exemplified by the November 1970 issue of The Canadian Architect whose feature article addressed this issue and cover featured an image of the award’s medal and the title, “If you failed to win this medal, turn to page 27.”

In 1982, the Governor-General’s Awards for Architecture was created to re-establish a major national architectural awards program.