The National Edition includes the following categories: Population, Circle of Excellence, Class of Champions, Grand Champions, International Challenge and Special Attractions (details below).

Communities are invited, after the provincial and national awards ceremonies, to the following year’s National Edition. The category that each community is invited to is determined by their results in previous editions

Each community receives a mention for a special achievement or initiative and is awarded a bloom rating ( from 1 to 5 blooms) based on the score of their evaluation.

There are four (4) levels of 5 Blooms exclusive to the National and International Edition, for evaluated communities only.

Categories:         

• Population: Competitive categories between all Canadian communities based on their populations.
• Circle of Excellence: A non-competitive category, for past national winners. with or without an evaluation.
• Class of Champions: A category where Canadian communities who have won in the Population category compete amongst themselves.
• Grand Champions: A category where past winners of Population, International Challenge and Class of Champions compete amongst themselves.
• International Challenge: A competitive category between national and international winners.
• Special Attractions: A non-category for living history museums, public gardens and other attractions