Local businesses win Canadian Choice Awards, trophy price draws scrutiny

Thirty-four Fort Erie businesses, including Lash + HeadSpa Suite on Jarvis Street, were named 2025 Canadian Choice Award winners this month after receiving email notices from the organization, which offers free digital winner badges but charges $750 for an optional physical trophy, a cost that leaves some local businesses hesitant.

The Canadian Choice Awards list one winner per category per city and allow self-nominations, with no limit on how many businesses a person can nominate.

The organization’s website states that participation is free but winners can opt into tiered purchase options, including a $750 trophy package, a $1,749 amplified recognition package and a $4,500 gala package for five people, with higher-priced options available for additional guests.

The website does not identify who owns or operates the organization, whether it is a registered business, or provide a physical address or phone number. Fort Erie Radio has received no response after contacting the awards body through its listed email addresses and contact form.

Local winners span categories such as radio stations (Fort Erie Radio), eyelash extension services (LXN Beauty Studio), small engine repair shops (Maxsym Small Engine Repair) and others with some unusual specificity.

Lash + HeadSpa Suite opened last June at 25 Jarvis Street and was first notified that it had been nominated, then a finalist and winner. Co-owner Makayla Goodman, 19, said the timing surprised her because the spa was new to the community.

Goodman told Fort Erie Radio the email congratulated the business and pointed winners to the awards website, where optional purchases appear after the announcement. She said the price for a physical trophy felt out of reach for them.

“To get an award, but to have to pay $750 for it is definitely a little much for a small business,” Goodman said.

Goodman has not dug into the process beyond receiving the emails but did at one point contemplate buying the physical award. She was not told how many businesses were considered in her category or how finalists were evaluated beyond the email notices she received.

Despite questions about the award model, Goodman was excited to be a finalist and said customer response to the spa has been steady since opening.

“We had only been open about six months, so when I got the email saying we were a finalist, it was truly mind blowing. We were so excited, especially being so new to Fort Erie,” said Goodman.

The full list of Fort Erie winners of the Canadian Choice Awards is available on their website.

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