The Portuguese Canadian Walk of Fame is a community organization whose mission is to honour Portuguese-Canadian individuals who have made an impact within both the Portuguese community and Canadian society as a whole, and who have also contributed to the advancement of Portuguese culture in Canada. It is located at Camões Square, at the corner of College St. and Crawford St. in Toronto. The PCWOF was inaugurated on June 2nd, 2013, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the start of Portuguese mass migration to Canada.
Early each year, the PCWOF committee puts out a Canada-wide call for nominations, inviting people to nominate individuals whom they feel deserve recognition for their accomplishments. Once the call for nominations comes to a close, the committee members confer and then cast a secret ballot to vote for the top three candidates to be inducted during that year’s ceremony. However, it is also taken to account how many nominations each individual receives (for example, if someone receives more nominations than others who have been nominated, that person will be inducted) so as to eliminate as much bias in the decision-making process as possible.
Each year, the PCWOF holds a public ceremony at Camões Square, where attendance is open to everyone, followed by a private gala event, to formally celebrate the induction of nominees into the Walk of Fame. Tickets to the gala are available for purchase by emailing Manuel DaCosta at viana1984@gmail.com.
Nominations for the 2016 ceremony are being accepted until April 28th.
For more information on the PCWOF, or to fill out a nomination form, visit their website. For frequent updates, follow the PCWOF on Facebook and Twitter.