The Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary is a Canadian award, presented annually by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to honour a film judged as the best Canadian short documentary film in that year's festival program. The award comes with a $3,000 prize from festival sponsors John and Betty Youson.
The award was presented for the first time in 2018. Prior to that year, a single award for Best Short Documentary Film, inclusive of both Canadian and international films, was presented. Concurrently with the creation of the Betty Youson Award, a separate award for international short films was also created.
The jury have also usually given an honorable mention in addition to the overall winner.
| Year | Film | Filmmaker(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Prince's Tale | Jamie Miller | [1] |
| Vika | Christian Borys, Marta Iwanek | ||
| 2019 | Kora: A Circle Life | Tenzin Sedon | [2] |
| Mothers Of | Ross Lai | ||
| 2020 | Theola Ross | [3] | |
| In the Shadow of the Pines | Anne Koizumi | ||
| 2021 | Ain't No Time for Women | Sarra El Abed | [4] |
| The Hairdresser | Lorraine Price | ||
| 2022 | Perfecting the Art of Longing | Kitra Cahana | [5] |
| The Benevolents (Les Bienvaillants) | Sarah Baril Gaudet | ||
| 2023 | Last Respects | Megan Durnford | [6] |
| 2024 | Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen? | Eisha Marjara | [7] |
| Sparkle | Isabelle Grignon-Francke |