The 12th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2023. They were held at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto from 28–31 May 2024, as part of Canadian Screen Week, with highlights of the final gala ceremony broadcast in a CBC Television special on 31 May 2024.Etan Vlessing, "Canadian Screen Awards Gets New Date, Venue Change". The Hollywood Reporter, February 8, 2024.
Nominations were announced on 6 March;Jackson Weaver, "BlackBerry, Sort Of, Little Bird dominate Canadian Screen Award nominations". CBC News, March 6, 2024. television drama Little Bird led in overall nominations with 19, while Matt Johnson's film BlackBerry received 17 nominations—becoming the most-nominated film in the history of the ceremony. Both BlackBerry and Little Bird would win the most awards in their respective categories.
Ceremony information Due to venue availability issues in Toronto, the ceremony was delayed from a provisional April scheduling to May 2024. In addition, the ceremonies were held at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre rather than Meridian Hall as in past years. Academy CEO Tammy Frick later stated that this scheduling also aligned the ceremony with the television upfronts season, as well as the period of industry activity between the Cannes Film Festival and the Banff World Media Festival. To streamline the event, the ceremony for children's and animated programming was discontinued, with its awards dispersed into the six remaining ceremonies.
CBC Television would air an hour-long special on 31 May, featuring highlights of the final gala. In response to criticism over the format and delayed broadcast of the special for the previous year's ceremonies (which aired on the Sunday following the ceremony), the Academy announced that the special would instead air on the same day. Frick stated that broadcasting the special on the same day as the final gala would help preserve its "energy" and immediacy, while still allowing time to edit out "industry-heavy elements" that may not be interesting to television audiences.
The main gala was hosted by comedian Mae Martin.Etan Vlessing, "Mae Martin to Host Canadian Screen Awards Special". The Hollywood Reporter, February 22, 2024. The Canadian Screen Week events were hosted by Sarah Davis (news, entertainment and sports), Andrew Phung (television craft), Keshia Chanté (television program and performance), Anne-Marie Mediwake (documentary, factual, lifestyle, and reality), and Sabine Daniel (cinematic arts).
Category changes
Film The Best Lead Performance in a Film and Best Supporting Performance in a Film categories were split into separate categories for comedy and drama films. They were also accompanied by a new award for Best Performance in a Live Action Short Drama. The number of nominees in each acting category remain at eight."Rules and Regulation Change Highlights". Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, August 2023. The categories for best director, best original and adapted screenplay and the John Dunning Award for best first film are now allowed to name six nominees instead of five if the number of eligible submissions reaches or exceeds nine. A new category was also introduced for Best Sound Design in a Documentary.
Television The award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series were split into separate new lead and supporting awards, and new awards were introduced for best ensemble performance in comedy and drama.
The former category for Best Talk Program or Series, which considered talk and interview programming regardless of its topic and format, was split into distinct new categories: Best Talk Series for entertainment and cultural talk series, and Best Political News Program or Series for news-oriented shows. One-off entertainment talk specials which may formerly have been considered under the old category are now restricted to Best Entertainment News Program or Series.
A new category for Best Comedy Special was introduced, with stand-up comedy specials becoming ineligible for Best Variety or Entertainment Special and Best Performing Arts Program as a result.
Adult animation productions became eligible for Best Comedy Series.
A new category was introduced for Best Picture Editing in Animation.
Digital media The awards for Best Virtual Reality Game and Best Children's Video Game, which existed as distinct submission categories but had not consistently been presented in recent years due to high variability in the number of eligible submissions, were discontinued. All games in those categories will remain eligible for the main Best Video Game category.
A new category was introduced for Best Picture Editing in a Web Program or Series.
Special awards The first special award recipients were announced in March 2024:Connie Thiessen, "Marilyn Denis, John Brunton among Canadian Academy ‘Special Award’ recipients". Broadcast Dialogue, March 19, 2024. Several further special awards were announced in early April,Etan Vlessing, "Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson to Receive Honorary Canadian Screen Awards". The Hollywood Reporter, April 4, 2024. with a third round of honorees announced on May 1.Connie Thiessen, "Canadian Academy to recognize Blue Ant Media CEO, among others". Broadcast Dialogue, May 1, 2024.
Lifetime Achievement: Marilyn Denis Board of Directors Tribute: John Brunton, Jeff Barnaby Changemaker Award: Tonya Williams Radius Award: Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson Gordon Sinclair Award: Paul Workman Sustainable Production Award: Science North, Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope Academy Icon Award: Denis Villeneuve Industry Leadership Award: Michael MacMillan Earle Grey Award: Patrick Huard
Film Best Motion Picture Best Direction BlackBerry — Niv Fichman, Matthew Miller, Fraser Ash, Kevin KrikstHumanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) — Jeanne-Marie Poulain, Line Sander Egede Infinity Pool — Karen Harnisch, Andrew Cividino, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal, Rob Cotterill, Anita Juka, Daniel Kresmery, Jonathan Halperyn Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) — Dominique Dussault Richelieu — Geneviève Gosselin-G. Solo — Étienne Hansez | valign="top" | Matt Johnson, BlackBerry Brandon Cronenberg, Infinity Pool Sophie Dupuis, Solo Ariane Louis-Seize, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Henri Pardo, Kanaval Pascal Plante, Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film Jay Baruchel, BlackBerry Félix-Antoine Bénard, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Alexandra Billings, Queen Tut Susan Kent, Who's Yer Father? Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) Cody Lightning, Hey, Viktor! Chris Locke, Who's Yer Father? Sara Montpetit, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Amrit Kaur, The Queen of My Dreams Ariane Castellanos, Richelieu Rayan Dieudonné, Kanaval Juliette Gariépy, Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) Mia Goth, Infinity Pool Oyin Oladejo, Orah Théodore Pellerin, Solo Alexander Skarsgård, Infinity Pool Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Film Glenn Howerton, BlackBerryConnie Thiessen, "Canadian Screen Awards winners: Cinematic Arts". Broadcast Dialogue, May 30, 2024. Hannah Cheesman, Hey, Viktor! Charlie Gillespie, Suze Matt Johnson, BlackBerry Steve Laplante, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Marc-André Leclair, One Summer (Le temps d'un été) Guy Nadon, One Summer (Le temps d'un été) Noémie O'Farrell, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Chantal Thuy, Ru Laurie Babin, Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) Nelson Coronado, Richelieu Martin Dubreuil, Kanaval Frances Fisher, The King Tide Charles-Aubey Houde, The Dishwasher (Le Plongeur) Alexis Vincent-Wolfe, Slash/Back Aden Young, The King Tide Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay Ariane Louis-Seize and Christine Doyon, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Monia Chokri, The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain) Brandon Cronenberg, Infinity Pool Delphine Girard, Through the Night (Quitter la nuit) Cody Lightning and Samuel Miller, Hey, Viktor! Pascal Plante, Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, BlackBerry Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, Billie Blue (Cœur de slush) Eric K. Boulianne and Francis Leclerc, The Dishwasher (Le Plongeur) Jacques Davidts, Ru Fawzia Mirza, The Queen of My Dreams Alexandra Weir, North of Normal Best Feature Length Documentary Best Short Documentary Twice Colonized — Lin Alluna, Stacey Aglok Macdonald, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Emile Hertling Péronard, Bob MooreBeyond Paper (Au-delà du papier) — Oana Suteu Khintirian, Nathalie Cloutier Kite Zo A: Leave the Bones — Kaveh Nabatian The Longest Goodbye — Paul Cadieux, Ido Mizrahy, Nir Sa'ar Someone Lives Here — Zack Russell, Matt King, Andrew Ferguson, Marianna Khoury, Will Goldbloom, Tinu Sinha, Will Lomoro | valign="top" | Madeleine — Raquel SancinettiCherry — Laurence Gagné-Frégeau Oasis — Justine Martin, Louis-Emmanuel Gagné-Brochu Violet Gave Willingly — Claire Sanford Zug Island — Nicolas Lachapelle |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Live Action Short Drama ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Performance in a Live Action Short Drama |- | valign="top" | Motherland ― Jasmin Mozaffari, Priscilla Galvez, Caitlin GrabhamDeath to the Bikini! (À mort le bikini!) ― Justine Gauthier, Léonie Hurtubise Heat Spell (L'Été des chaleurs) — Amélie Tremblay, Marie-Pier Dupuis, Dominique Dussault Invincible ― Samuel Caron, Vincent René-Lortie Mothers and Monsters ― Patrick Francke-Sirois, Isabelle Grignon-Francke, Édith Jorisch | valign="top" | Behtash Fazlali, Motherland Léokim Beaumier-Lépine, Invincible Florence Blain Mbaye, Making Babies (Faire un enfant) Eric K. Boulianne, Making Babies (Faire un enfant) Marine Johnson, Until You Die (Jusqu’à ce que tu meures) Agathe Ledoux, Heat Spell (L'Été des chaleurs) Ilyes Tarmasti, Muscat Anthony Therrien, Until You Die (Jusqu’à ce que tu meures) Best Animated Short John Dunning Best First Feature Where Rabbits Come From (D'où viennent les lapins) — Colin Ludvic Racicot, Bertrand Paquette, Simon AllardAphasia (Aphasie) — Marielle Dalpé, Marc Bertrand Miserable Miracle (Misérable Miracle) — Ryo Orikasa, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Jelena Popović, Nobuaki Doi, Rob McLaughlin, Michael Fukushima Return to Hairy Hill (Retour à Hairy Hill) — Emily Paige, Daniel Gies The Temple (Le Temple) — Alain Fournier | valign="top" | In Flames — Zarrar KahnHumanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) — Ariane Louis-Seize Kanaval — Henri Pardo Richelieu — Pier-Philippe Chevigny Something You Said Last Night — Luis De Filippis Through the Night (Quitter la nuit) — Delphine Girard |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Art Direction/Production Design ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Cinematography |- | valign="top" | Adam Belanger, Kerry Noonan and Lucy Larkin, BlackBerry Ludovic Dufresne, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Thea Hollatz, Fitting In Marie-Hélène Lavoie, Ru Michael Pierson, The Queen of My Dreams Jared Raab, BlackBerry Gabriel Brault-Tardif, Richelieu Alexandre Bussière, Montreal Girls Karim Hussain, Infinity Pool Mathieu Laverdière, Solo Jean-François Lord, Ru Mike McLaughlin, Hands That Bind