13th Canadian Screen Awards
The 13th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 30 May to 1 June 2025, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2024. The main gala was held on 1 June, hosted by comedian Lisa Gilroy, and was broadcast live on CBC Television and streaming on CBC Gem.
Nominees were announced on 26 March. Universal Language received the most nominations in film categories with 13, while Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent topped the field in television categories with 20 nominations. Canada's Drag Race was the most-awarded work overall with eight, while Universal Language would win the most awards in film categories with six.
Ceremony information
The Canadian Screen Week programme of events prior to the main gala were consolidated and reduced to two days.After multiple ceremonies in which television coverage was limited to an hour-long virtual ceremony or tape delayed highlights special on CBC Television, the Academy announced that live coverage of the gala ceremony would return. It was initially announced that this coverage would be exclusive to the CBC's streaming platform CBC Gem. Just days before the ceremony, the Academy announced that the ceremony would in fact air on CBC Television as well, indicating that the original streaming-only decision had been made in part because of the possibility of conflicts with CBC coverage of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs; Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final had been scheduled for 1 June if necessary, but the series was completed on 28 May after five games, thus freeing the 1 June date.
Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail felt that the situation could have been avoided entirely if the awards had reverted back to their traditional early spring scheduling, instead of retaining the late-May scheduling that was introduced in 2024. According to Academy CEO Tammy Frick, the Academy had chosen to stick with the late-May scheduling as that aligned the awards with the annual television upfronts season, as well as the period of industry activity between the Cannes Film Festival and the Banff World Media Festival.
Category changes
Film
- The eligibility criteria for films, which were dropped to a minimum of four commercial screenings at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on film distribution in 2020, were increased to five commercial screenings.
- Due to evidence that some first-time film directors have mistakenly overlooked submitting their films for the John Dunning Best First Feature Award in the past, first-time film directors would now be automatically considered in that category regardless of whether they had actively submitted for it or not.
- Minor technical changes were also added to the eligibility criteria for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction or Production Design.
Television
- Actors who played the same character in a series of television films would now be considered for the series performance categories instead of the television film performance categories.
- People credited as contributing writers would now be eligible to be included in writing nominations.
- The categories for Best Talk Series, Best Entertainment News Series and Best Morning Show were collapsed into a single new category for Best Talk or Entertainment News Series.
- The category for Best Performing Arts Program was discontinued, with programs in that category now eligible for either Best TV Movie or Best Variety and Entertainment Special.
- The category for Best Performance in Animation was renamed Best Voice Performance, considering voice acting across all forms of visual presentation.
- The category for Best Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series was discontinued, although the ensemble category for comedy series was retained.
- Minor technical changes were also introduced in music categories, as well as improved clarity about the distinction between supporting and guest performances.
Digital media
- The category for Best Live Production for Social Media was collapsed into Best Interactive Production, and may now also submit in the television category for Best Live Entertainment Special if appropriate.
- A single merged category for Best Immersive Experience is now presented if the number of eligible submissions in either Best Immersive Experience, Fiction or Best Immersive Experience, Non-Fiction falls below six. Separate categories would continue to be presented if submissions exceed that cutoff.
News and sports
- The separate categories for Best News Special and Best Breaking News Special, which were introduced for the 12th Canadian Screen Awards but not actually presented that year, were collapsed back down into a single category for Best Live News Special.
Special awards
- Board of Directors Tribute: Ellis Jacob, Denise Robert
- Changemaker Award: Marsha Greene
- Radius Award: Manny Jacinto
- Sustainable Production Award: ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''
Other notes
Film
Television
Programs
Actors
News and information
Sports
Craft awards
Photography
Editing
Sound
Directing
Music
Writing
All-platform awards
One major category is currently presented without regard to the distinction between film, television or web media content.| Stunt Coordination |
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Audience awards
| Cogeco Fund Audience Choice | Canada Media Fund Kids' Choice |
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