The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents one or more annual awards for the Best Screenplay for a Canadian film. Originally presented in 1968 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, from 1980 until 2012 the award continued as part of the Genie Awards ceremony.[1] As of 2013, it is presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.[2]
| Year | Nominees | Film | Ref |
|---|
1980
1st Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Janis Allen, Dan Goldberg, Len Blum | Meatballs | |
| Mireille Dansereau | Heartbreak (L'Arrache-cœur) | [8] |
| Allan Moyle, John Laing, Stephen Lack | The Rubber Gun |
| Jim Osborne | Summer's Children |
| Anne Claire Poirier, Marthe Blackburn | A Scream from Silence (Mourir à tue-tête) |
| Steven Hilliard Stern | Running |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Diana Maddox, William Gray | The Changeling | |
| Ted Allan | It Rained All Night the Day I Left | |
| Jean Beaudin, Marcel Sabourin | Cordélia |
| R. J. Dryer, Martin Lager | Jack London's Klondike Fever |
| Jean-Claude Lord, Jean Salvy | Chocolate Eclair (Éclair au chocolat) |
1981
2nd Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Réjean Ducharme | Good Riddance (Les Bons débarras) | |
| Marc Rosen | Final Assignment | [9] |
| Jean-Claude Labrecque, Jacques Benoit | The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) |
| Micheline Lanctôt | The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) |
| Ken Mitchell | The Hounds of Notre Dame |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Max Fischer | The Lucky Star | |
| Bernard Slade | Tribute | |
| Ronald Sutherland, Robin Spry | Suzanne |
1982
3rd Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Terence Heffernan | Heartaches | |
| Clay Borris | Alligator Shoes | [10] |
| Paul Illidge, James Sanderson | Head On |
| Adam Arkin, Ian Sutherland, Morrie Ruvinsky | Improper Channels |
| Réjean Ducharme | Happy Memories (Les Beaux souvenirs) |
| David Cronenberg | Scanners |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Roger Lemelin, Gilles Carle | The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe) | |
| Anne Cameron, Ralph L. Thomas | Ticket to Heaven | |
| Diana Maddox | The Amateur |
1983
4th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| John Hunter | The Grey Fox | |
| Phil Savath, Laurence Keane, Chris Windsor | Big Meat Eater | [11] |
| David Lee Henry | Harry Tracy, Desperado |
| John Juliani, Sharon Riis | Latitude 55° |
| Roger Fournier | A Day in a Taxi (Une journée en taxi) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Richard Paluck, Robert Guza, Jr. | Melanie
Award later rescinded, due to late discovery that it did not meet the qualifications[12] | |
| Peter Dion | The Hot Touch | |
1984
5th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Bob Clark | A Christmas Story | |
| David Cronenberg | Videodrome | [13] |
| Jack Darcus | Deserters |
| Timothy Findley | The Wars |
1985
6th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Daniel Petrie | The Bay Boy | |
| Micheline Lanctôt | Sonatine | [14] |
| Michel Langlois, Léa Pool | A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel) |
| Don Owen | Unfinished Business |
1986
7th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Sandy Wilson | My American Cousin | |
| Lise Lemay-Rousseau | The Alley Cat (Le Matou) | [15] |
| Mordecai Richler | Joshua Then and Now |
| Louise Rinfret, Claude Jutra | The Dame in Colour (La Dame en couleurs) |
1987
8th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Denys Arcand | The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) | |
| Sharon Riis | Loyalties | [16] |
| Yves Simoneau, Pierre Curzi | Intimate Power (Pouvoir intime) |
| Richard Nichol | Sitting in Limbo |
| Michael Jones, Andy Jones | The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Leon Marr | Dancing in the Dark | |
| Gordon Pinsent | John and the Missus | |
| Peter Rowe | Lost! |
1988
9th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Jean-Claude Lauzon | Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit) | |
| Sally Bochner, John N. Smith, Sam Grana | Train of Dreams | [17] |
| Atom Egoyan | Family Viewing |
| William D. MacGillivray | Life Classes |
| Patricia Rozema | I've Heard the Mermaids Singing |
1989
10th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Trevor Rhone, Glen Salzman | Milk and Honey | |
| André Melançon, Jacques Bobet | The Tadpole and the Whale (La Grenouille et la baleine) | [18] |
| Marie-José Raymond, Claude Fournier, Michel Cournot | The Mills of Power (Les Tisserands du pouvoir) |
| Guy Maddin | Tales from the Gimli Hospital |
| Michael Rubbo | Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Norman Snider, David Cronenberg | Dead Ringers | |
| Jackie Burroughs | A Winter Tan | |
| Francis Mankiewicz, Jacques Savoie | The Revolving Doors (Les Portes tournantes) |
| Robin Spry, Douglas Bowie | Obsessed |
| Phil Savath | The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick | |
| Year | Nominees | Film | Ref |
|---|
1990
11th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Denys Arcand | Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) | |
| Anne Wheeler | Bye Bye Blues | [19] |
| Don McKellar | Roadkill |
| Atom Egoyan | Speaking Parts |
| Colleen Murphy | Termini Station |
| Peter Mettler | The Top of His Head |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Richard Beattie, Elliot L. Sims | Cold Comfort | |
| Dany Laferrière, Richard Sadler | How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) | |
| John Varley | Millennium |
1991
12th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Paul Quarrington, Eugene Lipinski | Perfectly Normal | |
| Claire Wojas | Love Crazy (Amoureux fou) | [20] |
| Darrell Wasyk | H |
| Pierre Falardeau | The Party (Le Party) |
| André Forcier, Jacques Marcotte | An Imaginary Tale (Une Histoire inventée) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Brian Moore | Black Robe | |
| James DeFelice, Anne Wheeler | Angel Square | |
| Léa Pool, Laurent Gagliardi, Michel Langlois | The Savage Woman (La Demoiselle sauvage) |
1992
13th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Jean-Claude Lauzon | Léolo | [21] |
| Paul Donovan, Bill Fleming | Buried on Sunday | [22] |
| Paul Tana, Bruno Ramirez | The Saracen Woman (La Sarrasine) |
| Jeff Schultz | North of Pittsburgh |
| Francis Damberger | Solitaire |
| Adapted screenplay |
| David Cronenberg | Naked Lunch | |
| Kelly Rebar | Bordertown Café | |
| Yvon Rivard, Jacques Leduc | Phantom Life (La Vie fantôme) |
| David Brandes | The Quarrel |
| Gail Singer | True Confections |
1993
14th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Peggy Thompson | The Lotus Eaters | |
| Suzette Couture, Pierre Sarrazin | La Florida | [23] |
| Atom Egoyan | Calendar |
| François Girard, Don McKellar | Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould |
| David King | Harmony Cats |
1994
15th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Atom Egoyan | Exotica | |
| Mina Shum | Double Happiness | [24] |
| Gilles Desjardins | Les Pots cassés |
| Roger Cantin | Matusalem |
| Léa Pool | Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Brad Fraser | Love and Human Remains | |
| Jefferson Lewis | Ordinary Magic | |
| Paul Quarrington, Richard J. Lewis | Whale Music |
1995
16th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Gerald Wexler, Mort Ransen | Margaret's Museum | |
| Sylvain Guy | Black List (Liste noire) | [25] |
| Clément Virgo | Rude |
| Stephen Williams | Soul Survivor |
1996
17th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Pierre Gang | Not Me! (Sous-sol) | |
| Andrew Rai Berzins | Blood and Donuts | [26] |
| Gilles Carle | Poor Man's Pudding (Pudding chômeur) |
| Donald Martin | Never Too Late |
| The Boys Club |
| Adapted screenplay |
| David Cronenberg | Crash | |
| Noel S. Baker | Hard Core Logo | |
| Michel Marc Bouchard, Linda Gaboriau | Lilies |
| John L'Ecuyer | Curtis's Charm |
| Robert Lepage, Marie Brassard | Polygraph (Le Polygraphe) |
1997
18th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Thom Fitzgerald | The Hanging Garden | |
| Atom Egoyan | The Sweet Hereafter | [27] |
| André Forcier | The Countess of Baton Rouge (La Comtesse de Bâton Rouge) |
| Gabriel Pelletier, Yves Pelletier, Andrée Pelletier, Ann Burke | Karmina |
| Lynne Stopkewich, Angus Fraser | Kissed |
1998
19th Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| François Girard, Don McKellar | The Red Violin | [28] |
| Don McKellar | Last Night | [29] |
| André Morency, Robert Lepage | Nô |
| Allan Scott | Regeneration |
| Sooni Taraporevala | Such a Long Journey |
1999
20th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Louis Bélanger | Post Mortem | |
| Bruce McCulloch | Dog Park | [30] |
| Jeremy Podeswa | The Five Senses |
| Léa Pool | Set Me Free (Emporte-moi) |
| Monique Proulx | The Big Snake of the World (Le Grand Serpent du monde) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Atom Egoyan | Felicia's Journey | |
| François Bouvier, Marc Robitaille | Winter Stories (Histoires d'hiver) | |
| Jean-Philippe Duval, Alexis Martin | Matroni and Me (Matroni et moi) |
| Kim Hogan | Heart of the Sun |
| Wayne Johnston | The Divine Ryans |
| Monique Proulx, Jean Beaudin | Memories Unlocked (Souvenirs intimes) | |
| Year | Nominees | Film | Ref |
|---|
2000
21st Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Denis Villeneuve | Maelström | [31] |
| Denys Arcand, Jacob Potashnik | Stardom | |
| Frank Borg | My Father's Angel |
| Michel Marc Bouchard, Gilles Desjardins | The Orphan Muses (Les Muses orphelines) |
| Clement Virgo | Love Come Down |
2001
22nd Genie Awards |
| Screenplay |
| Paul Apak Angilirq | | [32] |
| Renny Bartlett | Eisenstein | |
| Catherine Martin | Marriages (Mariages) |
| Judith Thompson | Lost and Delirious |
| André Turpin | Soft Shell Man (Un crabe dans la tête) |
2002
23rd Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Deepa Mehta | Bollywood/Hollywood | [33] |
| Atom Egoyan | Ararat | |
| Paul Gross, John Krizanc | Men with Brooms |
| The Negro (Le nèg') |
| Jean-Phillipe Pearson, Patrice Robitaille, Ricardo Trogi | Québec-Montréal |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Sharon Riis | Savage Messiah | |
| Dominique Demers | The Mysterious Miss C. (La Mystérieuse mademoiselle C.) | |
| Patrick McGrath | Spider |
| Edward Riche | Rare Birds |
| Judith Thompson | Perfect Pie |
2003
24th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Denys Arcand | The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) | |
| Louis Bélanger | Gaz Bar Blues | [34] |
| Sébastien Rose | How My Mother Gave Birth to Me During Menopause (Comment ma mère accoucha de moi durant sa ménopause) |
| Ken Scott | Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction) |
| Peter Wellington | Luck |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Robert Lepage | Far Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la lune) | |
| Maurice Chauvet | Owning Mahowny | |
| Daniel MacIvor | Marion Bridge |
| Charles Martin Smith | The Snow Walker |
| Esta Spalding | Falling Angels |
2004
25th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Francis Leclerc, Marcel Beaulieu | Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) | [35] |
| Denise Filiatrault | Bittersweet Memories (Ma vie en cinémascope) | |
| Federico Hidalgo, Paulina Robles | A Silent Love |
| Don McKellar, Michael Goldbach | Childstar |
| David "Sudz" Sutherland | Love, Sex and Eating the Bones |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Luc Dionne, Sylvain Guy | Machine Gun Molly (Monica la mitraille) | |
| Joël Champetier, Daniel Roby | White Skin (La Peau blanche) | |
| Jerry Ciccoritti | Blood |
| Todd Klinck, Jaie Laplante, John Palmer | Sugar |
| Jacob Tierney | Twist |
2005
26th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Jean-Marc Vallée, François Boulay | C.R.A.Z.Y. | [36] |
| Louise Archambault | Familia | |
| Michael Dowse | It's All Gone Pete Tong |
| Deepa Mehta | Water |
| Luc Picard | Audition (L'Audition) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Atom Egoyan | Where the Truth Lies | |
| Diane Cailhier | The Outlander (Le Survenant) | |
| David Christensen | Six Figures |
| Luc Dionne | Aurore |
| Nathalie Petrowski | Maman Last Call |
2006
27th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Philippe Falardeau | Congorama | |
| Martin Girard, Ghyslaine Côté | A Family Secret (Le secret de ma mère) | [37] |
| Stéphane Lapointe | The Secret Life of Happy People (La Vie secrète des gens heureux) |
| Ken Scott | The Little Book of Revenge (Guide de la petite vengeance) |
| Ken Scott | The Rocket (Maurice Richard) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Robert Favreau, Gil Courtemanche | A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) | |
| | |
| François Létourneau | Cheech |
2007
28th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Steven Knight | Eastern Promises | [38] |
| Denys Arcand | Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) | |
| Douglas Coupland | Everything's Gone Green |
| Pierre Lamothe, Claude Lalonde | The 3 L'il Pigs (Les 3 p'tits cochons) |
| Marc-André Lavoie, Simon Olivier Fecteau and David Gauthier | Bluff |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Sarah Polley | Away From Her | |
| Michael Donovan | Shake Hands With the Devil | |
| Maureen Medved | The Tracey Fragments |
2008
29th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Bernard Émond | The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) | [39] |
| Randall Cole | Real Time | |
| Travis McDonald | Normal |
| Deepa Mehta | Heaven on Earth |
| Guillaume Vigneault | Everything Is Fine (Tout est parfait) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Marie-Sissi Labrèche, Lyne Charlebois | Borderline | |
| Richie Mehta, Shaun Mehta | Amal | |
| Fugitive Pieces |
2009
30th Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Jacques Davidts | Polytechnique | [40] |
| David Bezmozgis | Victoria Day | |
| Atom Egoyan | Adoration |
| Émile Gaudreault, Ian Lauzon | Father and Guns (De père en flic) |
| Charles Officer, Ingrid Veninger | Nurse.Fighter.Boy |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Kari Skogland | Fifty Dead Men Walking | |
| Tony Burgess | Pontypool | |
| Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Susan Avingaq, Madeline Ivalu | Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain) | |
| Year | Nominees | Films | Ref |
|---|
2010
31st Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Jacob Tierney | The Trotsky | [41] |
| Peter Stebbings | Defendor | |
| Adriana Maggs | Grown Up Movie Star |
| Louis Bélanger, Alexis Martin | Route 132 |
| Claude Lalonde | 10½ |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Denis Villeneuve | Incendies | |
| Michael Konyves | Barney's Version | |
| Lee MacDougall | High Life |
| Vic Sarin, Dennis Foon, Catherine Spear | A Shine of Rainbows |
| Patrick Senécal | 7 Days (Les 7 jours du Talion) |
2011
32nd Genie Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Ken Scott, Martin Petit | Starbuck | [42] |
| Anne Émond | Nuit #1 | |
| Eilis Kirwan, Larysa Kondracki | The Whistleblower |
| Jean-Marc Vallée | Café de Flore |
| Ryan Ward, Matthew Heiti | Son of the Sunshine |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Philippe Falardeau | Monsieur Lazhar | |
| Ryan Redford | Oliver Sherman | |
| Steven Silver | The Bang Bang Club |
| David F. Shamoon | In Darkness |
2012
1st Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Kim Nguyen | War Witch (Rebelle) | |
| Jason Buxton | Blackbird | [43] |
| Xavier Dolan | Laurence Anyways |
| Bernard Émond | All That You Possess (Tout ce que tu possèdes) |
| Michael McGowan | Still Mine |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Salman Rushdie | Midnight's Children | |
| Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg | Goon | |
| David Cronenberg | Cosmopolis |
| Anita Doron | The Lesser Blessed |
| Martin Villeneuve | Mars and April (Mars et Avril) |
2013
2nd Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Shannon Masters | Empire of Dirt | |
| Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, Marc Tulin | Whitewash | |
| Richie Mehta | Siddharth |
| Sébastien Pilote | The Dismantling (Le Démantèlement) |
| Jonathan Sobol | The Art of the Steal |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Elan Mastai | The F Word | |
| Michel Marc Bouchard, Xavier Dolan | Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) | |
| Javier Gullón | Enemy |
| Robert Lepage | Triptyque |
| Ken Scott, Michael Dowse | The Grand Seduction |
2014
3rd Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Xavier Dolan | Mommy | |
| Pearl Ball-Harding, Albert Shin | In Her Place | [44] |
| Atom Egoyan, David Fraser | The Captive |
| Stéphane Lafleur | You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole) |
| Bruce Wagner | Maps to the Stars |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Nicolas Billon | Elephant Song | |
| Scott Abramovitch | The Calling | |
| Joel Thomas Hynes | Cast No Shadow |
2015
4th Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Benjamin August | Remember | |
| Anne Émond | Our Loved Ones (Les Êtres chers) | [45] |
| Philippe Falardeau | My Internship in Canada (Guibord s'en va-t'en-guerre) |
| Matthew Hansen | Zoom |
| André Turpin | Endorphine |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Emma Donoghue | Room | |
| Josh Epstein, Kyle Rideout | Eadweard | |
| Wiebke von Carolsfeld | The Saver |
2016
5th Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Daniel MacIvor | Weirdos | |
| Kevan Funk | Hello Destroyer | [46] |
| Zacharias Kunuk | Searchers (Maliglutit) |
| Johnny Ma | Old Stone |
| Stella Meghie | Jean of the Joneses |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Xavier Dolan | It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) | |
| Bachir Bensaddek | Montreal, White City (Montréal la blanche) | |
| David Bezmozgis | Natasha |
2017
6th Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Sherry White | Maudie | |
| Josh Epstein, Kyle Rideout | Adventures in Public School | |
| Sadaf Foroughi | Ava |
| Kathleen Hepburn | Never Steady, Never Still |
| Sarah Kolasky, Adam Garnet Jones | Great Great Great |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Anita Doron | The Breadwinner | |
| Nicole Bélanger | Cross My Heart (Les Rois mongols) | |
| Susan Coyne | The Man Who Invented Christmas |
| Simon Lavoie | The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes) |
| Gabriel Sabourin | It's the Heart That Dies Last (C'est le cœur qui meurt en dernier) |
2018
7th Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Catherine Léger | Slut in a Good Way (Charlotte a du fun) | |
| Renée Beaulieu | Les Salopes, or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin (Les salopes ou le sucre naturel de la peau) | |
| Marc Bisaillon | With Love (L'Amour) |
| Philippe Lesage | Genesis (Genèse) |
| Guillaume Lemans | Just a Breath Away (Dans la brume) |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Robert Budreau | Stockholm | |
| Sharon Lewis | Brown Girl Begins | |
| Nathan Parker | Our House |
| Arturo Pérez Torres | The Drawer Boy |
| Paul Risacher, Claude Landry, Maxime Landry | Racetime (La Course des tuques) |
2019
8th Canadian Screen Awards |
| Original screenplay |
| Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers | The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open | [47] |
| Jonas Chernick, Jeremy Lalonde | James vs. His Future Self | [48] |
| Anne Émond | Young Juliette (Jeune Juliette) |
| Matthew Rankin | The Twentieth Century |
| Calvin Thomas, Yonah Lewis | White Lie |
| Adapted screenplay |
| Sophie Deraspe | Antigone | |
| Louise Archambault | And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) | |
| Denis Côté | Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparus) |
| Guillaume de Fontenay, Guillaume Vigneault, Jean Barbe | Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) |
| Myriam Verreault, Naomi Fontaine | Kuessipan | |
