Legion Magazine has won first prize in the prestigious Canadian Cover Awards for its January/February 2012 issue.

The national awards program recognizes and celebrates the success of the magazine industry’s top selling magazine covers. Honours go to titles “with sizzling sell lines, compelling photography, clever illustrations—whatever made the consumer pick up and purchase the magazine,” notes the CCA.

Legion Magazine’s first prize is in the General Interest, Arts, Lifestyle & Regional category. “This is tremendous news,” said Legion Magazine General Manager Jennifer Morse. “We are a small, but dedicated team and this recognizes the incredible talent on staff and the guidance of Scott Bullock, CoversSell.com. Well done to all! The credit is theirs.”

The award comes with $3,000 in credit for Newsstand promotion, which the magazine will use to promote its next Special Interest Publication at airport newsstands across the country.

In the highly competitive retail environment, where Canadian magazines have to fight for shelf space, the awards prove “that it is not size that matters—it’s covers,” adds the CCA.

Legion Magazine’s award, which was announced Feb. 26 at the CCA ceremony in Toronto, is the latest in a string of top national awards earned by the Kanata Ont.-based magazine. Last year it was a finalist in The Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media, also known as the Pierre Berton Award. That same year, Legion Magazine Staff Writer Adam Day won the highly coveted Ross Munro Media Award. In 2011 it won an honourable mention at the National Magazine Awards, and claimed a bronze medal at Canadian Newsstand Awards, now known as the Canadian Cover Awards.