The final group of Canadian Screen Awards were announced tonight, capping-off a seven-part celebration honouring Canada’s best scripted and non-scripted Digital, Film and Television. While traditionally held in-person, the Gala again went virtual this year.

In its sixth and final season, CBC Series SCHITT’S CREEK took home Best Comedy Series, Best Direction, Comedy* honour for Director/Screenwriter Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy; and the sixth win in a row for Actress Catherine O’Hara in the Best Lead Actress, Comedy category.

The first season of Canada’s Drag Race also took home five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Reality/Competition Program or Series. Season Two currently is being filmed in Toronto.

After gaining much acclaim out of TIFF’ 20, Tracey Deer’s BEANS went on to win Best Motion Picture tonight, while it was BLOOD QUANTUM that would sweep seven awards in the Film categories, including Michael Greyeyes for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role category.

Christopher Plummer also would be awarded posthumously for his work in TV Series DEPARTURES for Supporting Actor. Television icon Alex Trebek also posthumously was given the Academy Icon Award award, one of eleven 2020 Special Awards handed-out throughout the week. 

Complete list of winners can be found here.

(Photo credit: CBC)

Nominees were announced today for the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. The Screen Awards will take place this year virtually between Monday, May 17, 2021 through Thursday, May 20, 2021.

Up for Best Picture this year are Nadia, Butterfly, Beans, Funny Boy, Underground | Souterrain and The Nest.

Best Drama Series nominees include: Burden of Truth, Cardinal: Until The Night, Departure, Transplant and Vikings. Up for Best Comedy Series are Schitt’s Creek, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Workin’ Moms, Letterkenny and Kim’s Convenience.

The schedule for the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards is as follows:

Monday, May 17

7:00 PM ET – Canadian Screen Awards – News & Documentary, Presented by CBC

8:00 PM ET – CTV presents the Canadian Screen Awards – Lifestyle & Reality

Tuesday, May 18

7:00 PM ET – Canadian Screen Awards – Children’s & Animation, Presented by Shaw Rocket Fund

8:00 PM ET – Canadian Screen Awards – Digital & Immersive, Presented with the participation of the Independent Production Fund 

Wednesday, May 19

7:00 PM ET – CTV presents the Canadian Screen Awards – Creative Arts & Performance

Thursday, May 20

7:00 PM ET – Canadian Screen Awards – Cinematic Arts, Presented by Telefilm Canada, Supported by Cineplex

8:00 PM ET – Canadian Screen Awards

Nominees are here.

The 2021 Canadian Screen Awards for Sports will be handed out in July 2021, with nominees to be announced in June 2021.

More details on Academy.ca.

(Photo credit: The Canadian Academy)

Nominees were announced today for the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards. Leading all nominees is SCHITT’S CREEK with 26 nominations with nods for Best Comedy Series; Best Writing, Comedy; and Best Direction, Comedy, as well as multiple acting nominations in Best Lead Actor, Comedy; Best Lead Actress, Comedy; Best Supporting Actress, Comedy; and Best Supporting Actor, Comedy. The  Series about a bankrupt wealthy family left with only one asset, an ugly town, has continued to gained critical acclaim over its six seasons, garnering an international following.

Leading the Film nominees is SONG OF NAMES, up for Achievement in Art Direction / Production Design, Achievement in Costume Design, and Achievement in Visual Effects. The Film is about a man’s journey to find his childhood best friend, a violin prodigy who goes missing.

Awards across 141 categories will be distributed over a series of galas on Canadian Screen Week – March 23 – 29, 2020.

The Broadcast Gala airs and streams on CBC and CBC GEM Sunday, uarch 29, 2020 at 8 PM ET.

(Photo credit: CBC)

Wrapping-up Canadian Screen Week, March 25-31, 2019, the 7th edition of the Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala took place tonight at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. The week-long series of awards and events presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, serve to honour excellence across multiple platforms in the Country from Film, to TV to Digital Media.

Noticeably absent this year was these presence of English-language Feature films up for Best Motion Picture, with French-language films leading the way. Coming-of-Age Drama A Colony: Blackfly by Director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles won the coveted award ultimately. Teen Actress Emilie Bierre won Best Actress for her work in the Film which sees her grappling with bullying entering junior high school.

The Great Darkened Days earlier in the week swept the Gala Honouring Cinematic Arts, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, with wins for Sound Editing, Costume Design, Art Direction/Production Design, Cinematography and Actress in a Supporting Role (Sarah Gadon).

Ryerson graduate Jasmin Mozaffari was awarded for Direction with her debut effort FIRECRACKERS which premiered at TIFF to much acclaim. “I am honoured to be part of the group where 60% of the nominees were women” , she says.

ANNE WITH AN E had tied with SCHITT’S CREEK with 15 nominations apiece. The former would prevail though with seven wins at the Broadcast Gala including Best Drama Series and Best Lead Actress, Drama Series (Teen Actress Amybeth McNulty). CARDINAL also would win seven Awards in the Television categories including Best Actor and Actress in a Drama Program or Limited Series, Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse.

Honouring a Canadian talent making waves abroad, the Radius Award was presented tonight for the first time ever to Toronto’s Stephan James who starred both in Awards Season contender and winning, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK and also Amazon Prime Series HOMECOMING alongside Julia Roberts. He came with his brother Shamier Anderson and they told the Newsroom about their joint venture, The B.L.A.C.K Ball which earlier this Awards Season was held for the first time ever in Los Angeles with the likes of Tessa Thompson, Tiffany Haddish, Jesse Williams, Amandla Stenberg and more attending.

Other Awards handed-out tonight included the Academy Icon Award which honoured the Cast of THE KIDS IN THE HALL. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Filmmaker Deepa Mehta (Water, Beeba Boys), while Funnywoman Mary Walsh was handed the Earle Gray Award. The first-ever Industry Leadership Award went to our dear friends at Entertainment One.

For the first time ever this year, the Canadian Screen Arts Festival took place at Cineplex theatres every Saturday in March from Iqaluit to Vancouver, giving audience a chance to see some of this year’s nominated Films including Sashinka, Stockholm, What Walaa Wants, Immaculate Memories and Just a Breath Away.

See some Snaps from the night:

The Cast of Schitt’s Creek

Four-time Canadian Screen Award winner, Catherine O’Hara

Beth Janson, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television

Billy Campbell, Cardinal: Blackfly

Karine Vanasse, Cardinal: Blackfly

Stephan James x Shamier Anderson

Cindy Sampson, Private Eyes

Melanie Scrofano, Wynonna Earp

Kim Coates, Bad Blood

The Cast of Kim’s Convenience

Aaron Ashmore, The Killjoys

Sarah Gadon, The Great Darkened Days

Tynomi Banks, Canada’s a Drag

Moira Walley-Beckett, Amybeth McNulty x Miranda de Pencier of Anne With an E

Natasha Negovanlis x Elise Bauman

Rebecca Romijn x Jerry O’Connell

Yannick Bisson, Murdoch Mysteries

Mary Walsh

Tori Anderson x Allan Hawco

Catherine Reitman x Danielle Kind x Philip Sternberg of Workin’ Moms

Wendy Crewson

Jasmin Mozaffari x Caitlin Grabham, Firecrackers

The Kids in the Hall

See our Highlight Reel with our George Kozera (@PartyG):

More on the Gala here.

All photos shot on the Nikon D3400. Video on the Samsung S8+.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Nominations for the 2019 Canadian Screen Award were announced this morning at The Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto, honouring accomplishments in Canadian Film, Television and Digital Media. Leading this pack once again this year are ANNE WITH AN E and SCHITT’S CREEK with 14 nominations each.

Dominating the Film categories are French-language Films Just a Breath Away (Dans la brume) and The Great Darkened Days (La grande noirceur), the latter which partly is English.

Others to be honoured at the Awards this year include: The Kids in the Hall receiving the Academy Icon Award, Deepa Mehta, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mary Walsh receiving the Earle Grey Award and Golden Globe nominee Stephan James who will be named the first ever recipient of the Radius Award.

Women were front and center this year with receiving 50% of all nominations in Writing, Film Direction, Feature Film and Web Performance categories. We continue to see a focus on equity and diversity in the Canadian  Entertainment landscape with several initiatives like #AfterMeToo and #ShareHerJourney aiming at sharing the female voice and addressing women’s concerns.

Canadian Screen Week runs March 25 – 31, 2019 and includes five Galas:

•The CTV Gala Honouring Non-Fiction Programming (March 26, 2019)
•The CTV Gala Honouring Creative Fiction Storytelling (March 27, 2019)
•The Gala Honouring Digital & Immersive Storytelling (March 28, 2019)
•The Cinematic Arts Gala (March 31, 2019)
•The Canadian Screen Awards: Broadcast Gala (March 31, 2019)

Canadians can vote for their favourite screen personality to win the Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award here.

The 2019 Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala airs on CBC Sunday, March 31, 2019 at 8 PM ET.

A complete list of this year’s Nominees here.

(Photo credit: Canadian Academy)

By Amanda Gilmore and Mr. Will Wong

Now in its sixth year, the Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala caps-off a week of celebrations in Toronto honouring the Country’s very best in Film, Television and Digital Media.  Held at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the Awards are an answer to Canada’s humility and need for a real star system.  The Gala was hosted by Jonny Harris and Emmy Hunter.

Winning top honours this year was the Aisling Walsh Film MAUDIE based on the life of Canadian folk artist Maudie Lewis starring Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins. The Drama won a total seven Canadian Screen Awards tonight including Best Picture, Best Director, Supporting Actor (Hawke), Best Actress (Hawkins) and more. Walsh in what was a common theme of female empowerment and inclusion in light of the #AfterMeToo movement in Canada, tells the audience, “Every woman in this room who has dreamed of directing, writing or acting in a Film, go ahead and do it!”.

CBC‘s ALIAS GRACE scored two Canadian Screen Awards including Best Limited Series or Program and Best Actress in a Drama or Limited Series (Sarah Gadon).  Based on Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood‘s Book of the same name, tonight we saw the Author herself honoured with the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award.  Atwood says “I am very lucky to work with the brightest talent including Sarah Polley. I am supporting #AfterMeToo (and what their actual mission is) and the Canadian Women’s Foundation.”.

Tying in the Television categories tonight were fellow CBC Series KIM’S CONVENIENCE and ANNE with two wins each.  The former is a Sitcom centering on a Korean-Canadian family in Toronto and their convenience shop and it won Best Comedy Series and repeated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). The latter is based on the internationally-adored Children’s Book Series Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery and it scored for Best Drama Series and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Program or Series (R.H. Thompson).

Hochelaga, Land of Souls would take home four Canadian Screen Awards for Visual Effects, Art Direction, Cinematography and Overall Sound.

Angelina Jolie-produced Animated Feature The Breadwinner nabbed Adapted Screenplay, Music, Original Score, Sound Editing and Original Song.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World would win for Feature Length Documentary and Editing in Feature Length Documentary.

The Gala was a star-studded affair graced by the likes of Presenters: Kawa Ada, Shamier Anderson, Jann Arden, Adrienne Arsenault, Andrea Bang, Amanda Brugel, Billy Campbell, Nicholas Campbell, Saara Chaudry, Kim Coates, Wendy Crewson, Gerry Dee, Caroline Dhavernas, Sadaf Foroughi, Sarain Fox, Sarah Gadon, Marc-André Grondin, Allan Hawco, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Daniel Levy, Eugene Levy, Tatiana Maslany, Lisa Meeches, Amybeth McNulty, Natasha Negovanlis, Catherine O’Hara, Charles Officer, Amanda Parris, Jasmeet “JusReign” Raina, Catherine Reitman, Maxim Roy and Aurora Browne, Meredith MacNeill, Carolyn Taylor and Jennifer Whalen.

In addition to honouring the most notable Canadian productions of the past year, the Gala paid tribute to longstanding excellence.  Media personality Peter Mansbridge, known as the face of CBC‘s The National, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Adrienne Arsenault. Rick Mercer received an Icon Award from adored Singer/Songwriter Jann Arden for his work on now-concluded The Mercer Report. Actor/Director Clark Johnson was awarded the Earle Grey Award, presented by his sisters Molly and Taborah.

In addition to critical merit, popularity too was awarded at the Broadcast Gala.  The Golden Screen Award for TV Drama went to CBC‘s Murdoch Mysteries, while the Golden Screen Award for TV Reality Show was handed to CTV‘s The Amazing Race Canada. The Cineplex Golden Screen Award for Feature Film was given to De père en flic 2.

The Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award, decided upon by fans online went to star of Webseries Carmilla, Elise Bauman, whom last year saw her Co-Star Natasha Negovanlis win the same award.

Earlier in the week, awards were handed for Excellence in Non-Fiction Storytelling, Excellence in Creative Fiction Storytelling and Excellence in Digital and Storytelling. Also, fans got to meet up-close some of their favourite stars of the Canadian productions at Family Fan Day, including the likes of Jerry O’Connell, Allan Hawco, Amybeth McNulty, Daniel Maslany, Elise Bauman, Natasha Negovanlis, Viviane Hicks, the Cast of Kim’s Convenience and many more.

See more Photos of the night. Hover cursor left and right to navigate slideshows.

More highlights from tonight’s #CDNScreenAwards Red Carpet with the help of our @gilmoreamanda. Swipe left for more. In order: 1. Saara Chaudry 2. Wendy Crewson 3. Caroline Dhavernas 4. Jahmil French 5. Natasha Negovanlis 6. Kim Coates 7. Allan Hawco 8. Oluniké Adliyi x Amanda Brugel 9. #Shadowhunters: Katherine McNamara, Alberto Rosende, Jade Hassouné, Dominic Sherwood #CanadianScreenAwards #CDNscreen18

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 🏮 (@mrwillwong) on Mar 11, 2018 at 5:59pm PDT

Highlights from tonight’s #CDNScreenAwards Red Carpet with the help of our @gilmoreamanda. Swipe left for more. In order: 1. Sarah Gadon x Margaret Atwood x Noreen Halpern 2. Jann Arden 3. Molly Johnson 4. Slade Peltier 5. Moira Walley-Beckett x Amybeth McNulty x Miranda de Pencier 6. Catherine O’Hara x Annie Murphy x Emily Hampshire 7. Dan x Eugene Levy 8. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee x Jean Yoon 9. Simu Liu x Andrea Bang x Nicole Power x Andrew Phung #CanadianScreenAwards #CDNScreen18 @thecdnacademy

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 🏮 (@mrwillwong) on Mar 11, 2018 at 5:41pm PDT

For a complete list of winners, click here.

Saara Chaudry (The Breadwinner), Billy Campbell (Cardinal), Allan Hawco (Caught), #AFTERMETOO, Caroline Dhavernas (Mary Kills People) Natasha Negovanlis (Carmilla), Elise Bauman (Carmilla) and more in the Highlight Reel below:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Amanda Gilmore)

In celebration of Canadian Screen Week, FAMILY FUN DAY returns once again at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, March 10, 2018! Of course, it’s free for all!

This is your chance not only to participate in some fun activities with friends and family, but also see some stars including:

· Amybeth McNulty, Dalila Bela and Kyla Matthews from CBC’s Anne

· Josh Bogert, Aviva Mongillo, Devyn Nekoda, Thomas Colford and Colin Petierre from Family Channel’s Backstage

· Ika Wong and Gary Levy from Global’s Big Brother Canada

· Frank Ferragine, Winston Sih, Melanie Ng and Kerry Prunskus from City’s BT Toronto

· Jerry O’Connell from Bravo’s CARTER

· Allan Hawco from CBC’s Caught

· Tracy Moore from City’s Cityline

· Ana Golja, Amanda Arcuri and Richard Walters from Family Channel’s Degrassi: Next Class

· Anthony Farnell and Storm, the Weather Dog, from Global News

· Tiffany Pratt and Sebastian Clovis from HGTV Canada’s Home to Win

· Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jean Yoon, Andrew Phung, Andrea Bang and Simu Liu from CBC’s Kim’s Convenience

· Michael Bonacini and Claudio Aprile from CTV’s MASTERCHEF CANADA

· Hélène Joy, Daniel Maslany, Lachlan Murdoch and Arwen Humphreys from CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries

· Sam Lambert and Paul Mitskoupoulos, Season 5 winners of CTV’s THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

· Vivian Hicks, Emerging Artist, CTV’S THE LAUNCH

· Victoria Baldesarra, Akiel Julien, Alexandra Chaves and Shelby Bain from Family Channel’s The Next Step

Activities include:

· Amazing animals from Hands on Exotics

· Take a photo with your favourite Blue Jay at the Sportsnet VR Experience

· Interview your favourite Family Channel star with Deepa Prashad

· Schitt’s Creek 3D Photo Portrait

· Take your photo on the set of one of seven different Bell Media shows

· M·A·C Cosmetics booth and selfie station

· Junior Journalist Auditions with CBC’s Dwight Drummond

· Take a photo on the BT Toronto set

· Pretend you’re a racer on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

Carlos Bustamante from YTV hosts. The fun takes place 10 AM TO 2 PM.

Taking place tonight at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the fifth annual Canadian Screen Awards honoured the year’s best in Television, Film and Digital Media.  Earning top honours tonight was ORPHAN BLACK with five wins for Best Dramatic Series, Original Score, Supporting Actor (Kevin Hanchard), Writing and Lead Actress (Tatiana Maslany).  The Toronto-made Series, which currently is filming its final episode, will be premiering its fifth and final season Saturday, June 10, 2017.

Leading the way in the Film categories was Xavier Dolan‘s IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD. The French-Canadian Film which was Canada’s submission at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film this year, took home Best Picture, Best Director (Dolan), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Makeup and Best Supporting Actor (Vincent Cassel).

Regina-born Actress Tatiana Maslany was the queen of the night, winning for both her work on Orphan Black and as Lead Actress in the Feature Film The Other Half in which she stars opposite her real-life partner Tom Cullen.

Toronto’s Stephan James took home Lead Actor for his work on sports drama RACE.  He stated, “The greatest honour of my career was to portray Jesse Owens.”. The Film also won for Visual Effects, Overall Sound and Sound Editing.

Hosted by a spirited Howie Mandel, the evening also saw icon Christopher Plummer win a Lifetime Achievement Award.  He says, “I’ve spent almost 70 years making a fool of myself in this crazy profession of ours.  And I’ve had the time of my life.”.

Comedian Dave Chappelle also flew-in for the occasion, presenting the Icon Award to JUST FOR LAUGHS.  He credits the organization for helping him achieve his big break, joking “I’d never came to Canada before I came to this festival and when I did, I found that Canada was kinder and gentler, like a little gay brother I didn’t know about.”.

See Red Carpet Highlights from the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards:

See Amanda Gilmore‘s and my Interviews with some of the evening’s stars on the Red Carpet including the cast of Kim’s Convenience and Dave Chappelle:

Some Snaps from the Evening:

Shailyn Pierre-Dixon, “Between”

Sangita Patel, “ET Canada”

Dylan Authors x Mike MacMillan, “WEIRDOS”

Simu Liu, “Kim’s Convenience”

Emmanuel Kabongo

Karine Vanasse, “Cardinal”

Michelle Nolden, “Saving Hope”

Rick Mercer

Erica Durance, “Saving Hope”

Chloe Wilde, “eTalk”

Penny Oleksiak, Gold Medal Olympian

Kim Coates, GOON

Francesco Yates

Wendy Crewson

Kevan Funk x Jared Abrahamson, “Hello Destroyer”

Christopher Plummer, Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Jason Priestley x Cindy Sampson, “Private Eyes”

Stephan James, “Race”

Dave Chappelle

Cast of “Orphan Black”

#OrphanBlack x #ItsOnlytheEndoftheWorld win top honours at the #CanadianScreenAwards. More on link in Bio! #CdnTalent #CDNScreen17 #CDNScreenAwards #CloneClub #TatianaMaslany

A post shared by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Mar 12, 2017 at 9:09pm PDT

Complete list of winners here.

All photos taken on the NIKON D3300, video on SAMSUNG S7.

(Photo/video credit: Amanda Gilmore/Mr. Will Wong)

It’s that time of the year again and you can bet we’re super-pumped for CANADIAN SCREEN WEEK!  As in previous years, FAMILY FAN DAY will give us a chance to connect with some of our favourite Canadian stars of the screen!  Taking place Saturday, March 11, 2017 at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the event runs from 10 AM to 2 PM and guess what?  It’s free!

Exciting activations and contests are being planned and did you know that the first 100 in line will get a free swag bag? There will be doughnuts from JELLY MODERN, a MAC booth giving you inspiration for your spring 2017 look, exciting animals from HANDS ON EXOTICS and also a coding workshop by LADIES LEARNING CODE.

Stars in attendance this year include:

• Dan Riskin and Ziya Tong, Daily Planet (Bell Media)

• Kristian Bruun, Orphan Black (Bell Media)

• Simu Liu, Andrea Bang and Andrew Phung, Kim’s Convenience (CBC)

• Hélène Joy and Lachlan Murdoch, Murdoch Mysteries (CBC)

• Alisha Newton, Heartland (CBC)

• Janaye, Tony, Victor, Gary the Unicorn and Dot, CBC Kids (CBC)

• Dwight Drummond, CBC News Toronto (CBC)

• Kim Coates, Bad Blood (Rogers Media)

• Dina Pugliese and Kevin Frankish, Breakfast Television (Rogers Media)

• Victoria Baldesarra and Shelby Bain, The Next Step (Family Channel)

• Chelsea Clark and Ehren Kassam, Degrassi: Next Class (Family Channel)

• Devyn Nekoda, Colin Petierre and Julia Tomasone, Backstage (Family Channel)

• Hosts from Global’s The Morning Show (Corus Entertainment)

• Mike Holmes and Mike Holmes Jr., Holmes + Holmes (Corus Entertainment)

• Noah Cappe, The Bachelor Canada (Corus Entertainment)

• Anthony Farnell, Global News (Corus Entertainment)

• Ella Ballentine, Sara Botsford, Kate MacDonald Butler, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables (Corus Entertainment/Breakthrough Entertainment)

…and several more!

YTV‘s Carlos Bustamante will fill hosting duties.

____________________________________

Here’s a couple tips for taking the best selfies with the stars, from your resident expert, Mr. Will:

1. Be calm, stars are more like us than we are  led to believe.

2. Ask nicely. If you are a real fan, let them know how they have touched your life.

3. Give them space and let them initiate it if they want to get closer to you.

4. Make sure there’s no glaring light behind you in the photo. This is v. unflattering and will almost always ruin your photo. If there is light, make sure it is shining on your faces.

5. Nobody likes a double-chin, so tilt that camera/cell phone up just a bit and tilt that chin down.

6. Look into the lens of the camera, not the screen on your cell phone and smile! Keep your eyes open!

7. Take an extra snap quickly just in case the first didn’t turn out – it’s always good to have a back-up.

8. Thank the star.

____________________________________

Enjoy and g’luck! We’ll be seeing you around Canadian Screen Week!

More on Family Fan Day here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television)

Nominations were announced earlier today at Oliver & Bonacini‘s Aperture Room for the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards, now in their fifth year. Announcing nominees were a trio of Canadian talent including actors Maxim Roy (Shadowhunters), Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience) and Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale).

With 134 categories, divided by Digital Media, Television and Film, the Awards brought out some familiar and new names. Leading the Television nominees once again is ORPHAN BLACK with a stellar 14 nominations (and wins in the past three consecutive years) including Best Dramatic Series and Actress (Tatiana Maslany).  SCHITT’S CREEK, also a multi-CSA winner which just premiered in its third season, follows closely in second with 13 nominations, while KIM’S CONVENIENCE gets 11 nominations in its debut. The latter two, both from CBC, compete for Best Comedy Series.

Leading the Film nominations with nine nods is Xavier Dolan‘s IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD including Best Motion Picture and Direction, Canada’s Best Foreign Picture entry at the upcoming Academy Awards. RACE, also filmed in Montreal like WORLD, gets eight nominations, while BEFORE THE STREETS, OPERATION AVALANCHE and WEIRDOS each get six nods apiece.

Newly-appointed Academy CEO Beth Janson who returned to Canada recently after a stint in the U.S., comments on the lack of a star system in Canada and hence the necessity of recognizing our own Canadian talent which she is certain has no shortage of. “The stories we tell are increasingly reflective of our diverse experiences as Canadians, and that is a trend to cherish”, she tells a room of industry, media and nominees.

Some Snaps from the Breakfast:

Academy President, Martin Katz

Actress, Amanda Brugel

Actor, Simu Liu

Actress, Maxim Roy

Nominees Jennifer Dale and Adrian Holmes

Team Schitt’s Creek congratulate Catherine O’Hara on her nod!

See you in March!

More here on Facebook!

The 2017 Canadian Screen Awards air live on CBC Sunday, March 12, 2017 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, hosted by Howie Mandel.  Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer that night is slated to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Awards cap-off Canadian Screen Week, which takes place between Monday, March 6 – Sunday, March 12, 2017. Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer that night is slated to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Like previous years, Fans will have a chance to engage with various events set to take place leading up to the Awards.  Visit ACADEMY.CA for updates.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)