By participating in the Norfolk County Nature Photo Contest (the "Contest"), each entrant agrees to be legally bound by these Official Contest Rules and Regulations (the "Rules"). The Contest shall be construed and evaluated according to applicable Ontario and Canadian law.
1. Contest Period
The Contest begins on July 21, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and ends on September 26, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET (the "Contest Period"). After that, the Contest will be closed, and no other entries will be accepted.
2. Eligibility
The Contest is open to individuals who are the age of majority in Norfolk County and legal residents of Norfolk County, except:
- any officer, director, or elected official of The Corporation of Norfolk County (the "County" or “Norfolk County”) or its agencies, boards, and commissions;
- related advertising and promotional agencies and Contest prize providers (collectively the “Sponsors”)
- any employee of the County; and/or
- household members of any of the above.
3. How to Participate
Eligible contestants must enter the Contest by submitting a photograph (a “Photo”) complying with the below specifications via EngageNorfolk.ca during the Contest Period. Upon completion, contestants must provide their full name, phone number and a valid email address via EngageNorfolk.ca (the "Contest Entry"). No purchase or participation fee is necessary. Entries must be received prior to the indicated Contest Period entry deadline. Entries will be declared invalid if they are late, illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, mutilated, forged, garbled, mechanically or electronically reproduced or do not comply with the below specifications. No communication or correspondence will be exchanged with contestants except with those selected as a potential Contest winner.
Eligible entries must comply with the following specifications:
- Photos must be the original work of the entrant;
- Photos must be taken on County-owned woodlots, parks, trails, or cemeteries;
- Photos must include the location where it was taken;
- Photos must feature nature and living things only (ex. trees, plants, animals, insects, birds);
- No humans may appear in any Photo;
- Photos may not contain:
- Profanity or offensive language;
- Sexual or suggestive content;
- Violence or graphic imagery;
- Promotion of illegal activity; or
- Any other content deemed inappropriate by the County in its sole discretion;
- Photos must be high resolution and not digitally altered (ex. no significant Photoshop manipulation or editing);
- Photos must be submitted in an acceptable file format, being JPG, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or HEIC; and
- Photos must be;
- a minimum image size of 1920x1080 pixels;
- a maximum file size of 4MB.
Entries received online shall be deemed to be submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the entry. For the purposes of these Contest Rules, “authorized account holder” of an e-mail address is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain or account associated with the submitted e-mail address. Each selected entrant may be required to provide Norfolk County with proof that the selected entrant is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the winning entry.
Norfolk County reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine what constitutes non-relevant or inappropriate content and may remove entries from the Contest without notice.
4. Entry Limits
Each eligible contestant may enter one (1) or multiple photos during the Contest Period. An entry form must be completed for each entry. Attempts to employ automated systems to participate may result in disqualification.
All entries and entrants are subject to verification at any time. All personal and other information requested by and supplied to the County and/or Sponsors for the purpose of the Contest must be truthful, complete, accurate and in no way misleading. Norfolk County reserves the right to require proof of identity and/or eligibility in a form acceptable to the County (e.g., government-issued photo identification). Failure to provide such proof within the timeline specified by the County may result in disqualification. The County reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant should such an entrant at any stage supply untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading personal details and/or information.
5. Winning
Judging of the Photos will be conducted by a panel of staff from the Communications, Parks, Trails and Forestry departments of the County to determine the winners. Judging criteria will include creativity, composition and how effectively each Photo captures the essence of the Contest category. There will be four (4) Contest categories, being (1) parks, (2) trails, (3) woodlots and (4) cemeteries. There will be three (3) prizes available per category. The chances of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Any remaining entries will not be carried over for future Norfolk County contests. If as a result of error relating to the entry process, drawing or any other aspect of the Contest, there are more selected entrants than contemplated in these Rules, there will be a random draw amongst all eligible prize claimants to aware the correct number of prizes.
Before being declared a winner, the selected contestant will be required to correctly answer, without assistance of any kind, whether mechanical or otherwise, a time-limited mathematical skill testing question to be administered during a telephone call or by e-mail.
Winners will be notified exclusively by email by October 6, 2025. To claim the prize, winners must confirm acceptance by email and successfully answer the skill testing question by November 3, 2025. If no response is received within the required time, an alternate winner will be selected.
Winners may pick up their prize in person at the County Administration Building, 50 Colborne Street South, Simcoe, Ontario, starting on October 1, 2025, showing proper identification and proof of Norfolk County residency. By accepting the prize, winners agree that their name and/or photographs may be used in promotional materials related to the Contest.
6. Prizes
There will be 12 (12) prizes available, consisting of a VISA gift card valued at $100 CAD for first place in each Contest category, a VISA gift card valued at $50 CAD for second place in each Contest category and a VISA gift card valued at $25 CAD for third place in each Contest category. One (1) prize per person. Prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be transferred or assigned. No prize substitutions will be made, except at Norfolk County’s discretion for a prize of equivalent value.
The County shall not assume any liability for lost, damaged or misdirected prizes.
In the case of gift cards or gift certificates, the terms by which the gift cards or gift certificates may be redeemed are governed by the applicable retailer or service provider. Norfolk County is not responsible for administering or ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the gift cards or gift certificates.
7. Additional Details
All incidental costs and expenses not specifically referred to herein as part of the prize description (the “Expenses”) are the sole responsibility of the prize winner, where applicable. All prize elements are subject to availability and substitution. The winner shall not seek reimbursement for the Expenses from the County.
Norfolk County reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest at its sole discretion due to unforeseen circumstances, including technical failures, fraud, or any other issue that may compromise the integrity of the Contest.
This Contest is void where prohibited by law. Any disputes regarding the Contest may be submitted to Norfolk County Communications for binding resolution.
Norfolk County is not responsible for technical errors, lost or misdirected entries, or any failures related to Contest participation. The County reserves the right to disqualify any participant found to be in violation of these Rules.
This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).
Norfolk County may amend these Rules in any way, at any time, for any reason without prior notice for any reason whatsoever, including, but not limited to ensuring compliance with legal requirements.
Entries, including but not limited to Photos that are part of the entries, and all intellectual property rights therein, shall become the sole and exclusive property of the County upon submission and will not be returned to contestants. The County may use and reproduce the Photos, including but not limited to, by publishing the Photos in digital or print format, including on websites, social media, promotional materials and/or other publications, as the County in its sole and absolute discretion considers appropriate. By submitting an Photo, each contestant irrevocably and unconditionally waives, in favour of the County, all moral rights such contestant has or may have in the Photo.
By entering the Contest, each entrant releases the County, Sponsors and/or any social media platforms, and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and/or related companies and each of their employees, directors, officers, elected officials, suppliers, agents, administrators, licensees, representatives, advertising, media buying and promotional agencies (collectively, the “Releasees”) from any and all liability for any loss, harm, damages, cost or expense arising out of participation in the Contest or the acceptance, use, or misuse of any prize, including but not limited to costs, injuries, losses related to personal injuries, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation, or portrayal in a false light, or from any and all claims of third parties arising therefrom.
By entering the Contest, each entrant releases and holds the Releasees harmless from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to the entrants or any other person, including personal injury, death, or property damage, resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, participation in the Contest, any breach of the Contest Rules, or in any prize-related activity. Each entrant agrees to fully indemnify the Releasees from any and all claims by third parties relating to the Contest, without limitation.
The County assumes no responsibility or liability for lost, late, unintelligible/illegible, falsified, damaged, misdirected or incomplete entries, notifications, responses, replies, or for any computer, online, software, telephone, hardware or technical malfunctions that may occur, including but not limited to, malfunctions that may affect the transmission or non-transmission of an entry. The County is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest. The County assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The County is not responsible for any problems, failures or technical malfunction of any computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, e-mail, players, or browsers, on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, at any website, or on account of any combination of the foregoing or otherwise. The County is not responsible for any injury or damage to any entrant or to any computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials related to the Contest. Each entrant assumes liability for injuries caused or claimed to be caused by participating in the Contest, or by the acceptance, possession, use of, or failure to receive any prize. The County assumes no responsibility or liability in the event that the Contest cannot be conducted as planned for any reason, including those reasons beyond the control of the County, such as infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or corruption of the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest.
By participating in the Contest, each entrant: (i) grants to the County the right to use his/her personal information provided to the County (collectively the “Personal Information”) for the purpose of administering the Contest, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the winners and coordinating the provision of the Contest prize; (ii) grants to the County and/or Sponsors the right to use his/her Personal Information for publicity and promotional purposes relating to the Contest in any and all media without further compensation unless prohibited by law; and (iii) acknowledges that the County may disclose his/her Personal Information to third-party agents and service providers in connection with any of the activities listed in (i) and/or (ii) above. The County will use each entrant’s Personal Information only for identified purposes, and protect each entrant’s Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with the Norfolk Privacy Policy at: https://www.norfolkcounty.ca/privacy-policy/.
All intellectual property, including but not limited to trade-marks, trade names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source code, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned by the County, the Sponsors and/or their affiliates, as applicable. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owner is strictly prohibited.
This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by any social media platforms on which the Contest may have been promoted and/or publicized, Any questions or comments regarding a Contest must be directed to the County and not to any of the social media platforms on which the Contest may have been advertised or administered.
These are the official Contest Rules. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Contest Rules or the rights and obligations as between the entrant and the County and/or Sponsors in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein including procedural provisions without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other jurisdiction’s laws.
