Canadian Screen Award for Best Director

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Direction to the best work by a director of a Canadian film.^[1]

History

The award was first presented in 1966 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year. From 1980 until 2012, the award was presented as part of the Genie Awards ceremony; since 2013, it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

1960s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
1966 18th Canadian Film Awards
	Ron Kelly	The Gift	[1]
1967 19th Canadian Film Awards
	Ron Kelly	Wojeck: "The Last Man in the World"	[1]
	Allan King	Warrendale
1968 20th Canadian Film Awards
	Don Owen	The Ernie Game	[1]
1969 21st Canadian Film Awards
	Peter Pearson	The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar	[1]
	Arthur Hammond	This Land	[2]
	Francis Chapman	McQueen: "There's a Car Upside Down on My Lawn"

1970s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
1970 22nd Canadian Film Awards
	Paul Almond	The Act of the Heart	[1]
1971 23rd Canadian Film Awards
	Claude Jutra	Mon oncle Antoine	[1]
1972 24th Canadian Film Awards
	Gilles Carle	The True Nature of Bernadette (La Vraie Nature de Bernadette)	[1]
1973 25th Canadian Film Awards
	David Acomba	Slipstream	[1]
1974
	No award presented		[1]
1975 26th Canadian Film Awards
	Michel Brault	Orders (Les Ordres)	[1]
1976 27th Canadian Film Awards
	Harvey Hart	Goldenrod	[1]
1977 28th Canadian Film Awards
	Jean Beaudin	J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe)	[1]
	Allan King	Who Has Seen the Wind	[3]
	Silvio Narizzano	Why Shoot the Teacher?
	Robin Spry	One Man
1978 29th Canadian Film Awards
	Daryl Duke	The Silent Partner	[1]
	Paul Lynch	Blood and Guts	[4]
	George Kaczender	In Praise of Older Women
	Les Rose	Three Card Monte

1980s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
1980 1st Genie Awards
	Bob Clark	Murder by Decree	[1]
	Peter Carter	Klondike Fever	[5]
	Anne-Claire Poirier	A Scream from Silence (Mourir à tue-tête)
	Donald Shebib	Fish Hawk
	Eric Till	Wild Horse Hank
1981 2nd Genie Awards
	Francis Mankiewicz	Good Riddance (Les bons débarras)	[1]
	Bob Clark	Tribute	[6]
	Zale Dalen	The Hounds of Notre Dame
	Jean-Claude Labrecque	The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin)
	Micheline Lanctôt	The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire)
1982 3rd Genie Awards
	Gilles Carle	The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe)	[1]
	David Cronenberg	Scanners	[7]
	Allan King	Silence of the North
	Donald Shebib	Heartaches
	Ralph L. Thomas	Ticket to Heaven
1983 4th Genie Awards
	Phillip Borsos	The Grey Fox	[1]
	Rex Bromfield	Melanie	[8]
	Jean Pierre Lefebvre	Wild Flowers (Les fleurs sauvages)
	Robert Ménard	A Day in a Taxi (Une journée en taxi)
	Eric Till	If You Could See What I Hear
1984 5th Genie Awards
	Bob Clark	A Christmas Story	[1]
	David Cronenberg	Videodrome
	Bruno Carrière	Lucien Brouillard	[9]
	Jack Darcus	Deserters
	André Forcier	Au clair de la lune
	Brigitte Sauriol	Just a Game (Rien qu'un jeu)
1985 6th Genie Awards
	Micheline Lanctôt	Sonatine	[1]
	Atom Egoyan	Next of Kin	[10]
	Jean Pierre Lefebvre	Le jour S...
	Don Owen	Unfinished Business
	Léa Pool	A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel)
1986 7th Genie Awards
	Sandy Wilson	My American Cousin	[1]
	Jean Beaudin	The Alley Cat (Le Matou)	[11]
	Claude Jutra	The Dame in Colour (La Dame en couleurs)
	Ted Kotcheff	Joshua Then and Now
	Giles Walker	90 Days
1987 8th Genie Awards
	Denys Arcand	The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain)	[1]
	Leon Marr	Dancing in the Dark	[12]
	Yves Simoneau	Intimate Power (Pouvoir intime)
	John N. Smith	Sitting in Limbo
	Anne Wheeler	Loyalties
1988 9th Genie Awards
	Jean-Claude Lauzon	Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit)	[1]
	Atom Egoyan	Family Viewing	[13]
	Marquise Lepage	Marie in the City (Marie s'en va-t-en ville)
	Patricia Rozema	I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
	John N. Smith	Train of Dreams
1989 10th Genie Awards
	David Cronenberg	Dead Ringers	[1]
	Roger Cardinal	Malarek	[14]
	Louise Clark, Jackie Burroughs, John Walker, Aerlyn Weissman and John Frizzell	A Winter Tan
	Francis Mankiewicz	The Revolving Doors (Les Portes tournantes)
	Anne Wheeler	Cowboys Don't Cry

1990s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
1990 11th Genie Awards
	Denys Arcand	Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal)	[1]
	François Bouvier and Jean Beaudry	Unfaithful Mornings (Les Matins infidèles)	[15]
	Atom Egoyan	Speaking Parts
	John N. Smith	Welcome to Canada
	Anne Wheeler	Bye Bye Blues
1991 12th Genie Awards
	Bruce Beresford	Black Robe	[1]
	Phillip Borsos	Bethune: The Making of a Hero	[16]
	Atom Egoyan	The Adjuster
	André Forcier	An Imaginary Tale (Une histoire inventée)
	Darrell Wasyk	H
1992 13th Genie Awards
	David Cronenberg	Naked Lunch	[1]
	Jean Beaudin	Being at Home with Claude	[17]
	Eli Cohen	The Quarrel
	Jean-Claude Lauzon	Léolo
	Robert Morin	Requiem for a Handsome Bastard (Requiem pour un beau sans-cœur)
1993 14th Genie Awards
	François Girard	Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould	[1]
	Paule Baillargeon	The Sex of the Stars (Le Sexe des étoiles)	[18]
	Atom Egoyan	Calendar
	George Mihalka	La Florida
	Sandy Wilson	Harmony Cats
1994 15th Genie Awards
	Atom Egoyan	Exotica	[1]
	André Forcier	The Wind from Wyoming (Le Vent du Wyoming)	[19]
	Micheline Lanctôt	Two Can Play (Deux actrices)
	Richard J. Lewis	Whale Music
	Léa Pool	Desire in Motion (Mouvements du désir)
	Mina Shum	Double Happiness
1995 16th Genie Awards
	Robert Lepage	The Confessional (Le Confessionnal)	[1]
	Charles Binamé	Eldorado	[20]
	Mort Ransen	Margaret's Museum
	Jean-Marc Vallée	Black List (Liste noire)
	Clement Virgo	Rude
1996 17th Genie Awards
	David Cronenberg	Crash	[1]
	John Fawcett	The Boys Club	[21]
	John Greyson	Lilies
	Robert Lepage	Polygraph (Le Polygraphe)
	Bruce McDonald	Hard Core Logo
1997 18th Genie Awards
	Atom Egoyan	The Sweet Hereafter	[1]
	Thom Fitzgerald	The Hanging Garden	[22]
	André Forcier	The Countess of Baton Rouge (La Comtesse de Bâton Rouge)
	Gabriel Pelletier	Karmina
	Lynne Stopkewich	Kissed
1998 19th Genie Awards
	François Girard	The Red Violin (Le Violon rouge)	[1]
	Sturla Gunnarsson	Such a Long Journey	[23]
	Don McKellar	Last Night
	Gillies MacKinnon	Regeneration
	Jonathan Tammuz	Rupert's Land
	Joel Wyner	Pale Saints
1999 20th Genie Awards
	Jeremy Podeswa	The Five Senses	[1]
	Louis Bélanger	Post Mortem	[24]
	Atom Egoyan	Felicia's Journey
	Léa Pool	Set Me Free (Emporte-moi)
	Istvan Szabo	Sunshine

2000s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
2000 21st Genie Awards
	Denis Villeneuve	Maelström	[25]
	Gary Burns	waydowntown	[26]
	Alain DesRochers	The Bottle (La Bouteille)
	Robert Favreau	The Orphan Muses (Les Muses orphelines)
	Robert Lepage	Possible Worlds
2001 22nd Genie Awards
	Zacharias Kunuk	Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner	[27]
	Denis Chouinard	Tar Angel (L'Ange de goudron)	[28]
	Renny Bartlett	Eisenstein
	Bernard Émond	The Woman Who Drinks (La Femme qui boit)
	William Phillips	Treed Murray
2002 23rd Genie Awards
	David Cronenberg	Spider	[29]
	Jean Beaudin	The Collector (Le Collectionneur)	[30]
	Sturla Gunnarsson	Rare Birds
	Ricardo Trogi	Québec-Montréal
	Anne Wheeler	Suddenly Naked
2003 24th Genie Awards
	Denys Arcand	The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares)	[31]
	Robert Lepage	Far Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la lune)	[32]
	Guy Maddin	The Saddest Music in the World
	Jean-François Pouliot	Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction)
	Charles Martin Smith	The Snow Walker
2004 25th Genie Awards
	Francis Leclerc	Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives)	[33]
	Denise Filiatrault	Bittersweet Memories (Ma vie en cinémascope)	[34]
	Pierre Houle	Machine Gun Molly (Monica la mitraille)
	Bronwen Hughes	Stander
	David "Sudz" Sutherland	Love, Sex and Eating the Bones
2005 26th Genie Awards
	Jean-Marc Vallée	C.R.A.Z.Y.	[35]
	Louise Archambault	Familia	[36]
	Michael Dowse	It's All Gone Pete Tong
	Deepa Mehta	Water
	Luc Picard	Audition (L'Audition)
2006 27th Genie Awards
	Charles Binamé	The Rocket (Maurice Richard)	[37]
	Érik Canuel	Bon Cop, Bad Cop	[38]
	Robert Favreau	A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali)
	Stéphane Lapointe	The Secret Life of Happy People (La Vie secrète des gens heureux)
	Jean-François Pouliot	The Little Book of Revenge (Guide de la petite vengeance)
2007 28th Genie Awards
	Sarah Polley	Away From Her	[39]
	Denys Arcand	Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres)	[40]
	David Cronenberg	Eastern Promises
	Bruce McDonald	The Tracey Fragments
	Roger Spottiswoode	Shake Hands With the Devil
2008 29th Genie Awards
	Benoît Pilon	The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre)	[41]
	Carl Bessai	Normal	[42]
	Lyne Charlebois	Borderline
	Yves-Christian Fournier	Everything is Fine (Tout est parfait)
	Richie Mehta	Amal
2009 30th Genie Awards
	Denis Villeneuve	Polytechnique	[43]
	Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu	Before Tomorrow (Le Jour avant le lendemain)	[44]
	Bruce McDonald	Pontypool
	Charles Officer	Nurse.Fighter.Boy
	Kari Skogland	Fifty Dead Men Walking

2010s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
2010 31st Genie Awards
	Denis Villeneuve	Incendies	[45]
	Xavier Dolan	Heartbeats (Les Amours imaginaires)	[46]
	Richard J. Lewis	Barney's Version
	Vincenzo Natali	Splice
	Podz	10½
2011 32nd Genie Awards
	Philippe Falardeau	Monsieur Lazhar	[47]
	David Cronenberg	A Dangerous Method	[48]
	Larysa Kondracki	The Whistleblower
	Steven Silver	The Bang Bang Club
	Jean-Marc Vallée	Café de Flore
2012 1st Canadian Screen Awards
	Kim Nguyen	War Witch (Rebelle)	[49]
	Xavier Dolan	Laurence Anyways	[50]
	Michael Dowse	Goon
	Bernard Émond	All That You Possess (Tout ce que tu possèdes)
	Deepa Mehta	Midnight's Children
2013 2nd Canadian Screen Awards
	Denis Villeneuve	Enemy	[51]
	Xavier Dolan	Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme)	[52]
	Michael Dowse	The F Word
	Sébastien Pilote	The Dismantling (Le Démantèlement)
	Pedro Pires and Robert Lepage	Triptych (Triptyque)
2014 3rd Canadian Screen Awards
	Xavier Dolan	Mommy	[53]
	David Cronenberg	Maps to the Stars	[54]
	Atom Egoyan	The Captive
	Stéphane Lafleur	You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole)
	Albert Shin	In Her Place
2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards
	Lenny Abrahamson	Room	[55]
	Andrew Cividino	Sleeping Giant	[56]
	Anne Émond	Our Loved Ones (Les Êtres chers)
	Maxime Giroux	Felix and Meira (Félix et Meira)
	Philippe Lesage	The Demons (Les Démons)
2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards
	Xavier Dolan	It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde)	[57]
	Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie	Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau)	[58]
	Kevan Funk	Hello Destroyer
	Matt Johnson	Operation Avalanche
	Chloé Leriche	Before the Streets (Avant les rues)
2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards
	Aisling Walsh	Maudie	[59]
	Robin Aubert	Ravenous (Les Affamés)	[60]
	Alexis Durand-Brault	It's the Heart That Dies Last (C'est le cœur qui meurt en dernier)
	Sadaf Foroughi	Ava
	Ian Lagarde	All You Can Eat Buddha
2018 7th Canadian Screen Awards
	Jasmin Mozaffari	Firecrackers	[61]
	Sophie Dupuis	Family First (Chien de garde)	[62]
	Geneviève Dulude-De Celles	A Colony (Une colonie)
	Maxime Giroux	The Great Darkened Days (La grande noirceur)
	Daniel Roby	Just a Breath Away (Dans la brume)
2019 8th Canadian Screen Awards
	Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn	The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open	[63]
	Sophie Deraspe	Antigone	[64]
	Kazik Radwanski	Anne at 13,000 Ft.
	Matthew Rankin	The Twentieth Century
	Calvin Thomas, Yonah Lewis	White Lie

2020s

Year	Nominee	Film	Ref
2020 9th Canadian Screen Awards
	Deepa Mehta	Funny Boy	[65]
	Brandon Cronenberg	Possessor	[66]
	Sophie Dupuis	Underground (Souterrain)
	Sean Durkin	The Nest
	Pascal Plante	Nadia, Butterfly
2021 10th Canadian Screen Awards
	Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson	Scarborough	[67]
	Anthony Scott Burns	Come True	[68]
	Danis Goulet	Night Raiders
	Philippe Grégoire	The Noise of Engines (Le Bruit des moteurs)
	Bretten Hannam	Wildhood
2022 11th Canadian Screen Awards
	Clement Virgo	Brother	[69]
	David Cronenberg	Crimes of the Future	[70]
	Stéphane Lafleur	Viking
	Charlotte Le Bon	Falcon Lake
	Anthony Shim	Riceboy Sleeps
2023 12th Canadian Screen Awards
	Matt Johnson	BlackBerry	[71]
	Brandon Cronenberg	Infinity Pool	[72]
	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)
2024 13th Canadian Screen Awards
	Matthew Rankin	Universal Language (Une langue universelle)	[73]
	Ara Ball	Hurricane Boy Fuck You Tabarnak! (L'Ouragan F.Y.T.)	[74]
	Henry Bernadet	Gamma Rays (Les Rayons gammma)
	Atom Egoyan	Seven Veils
	Naomi Jaye	Darkest Miriam
	Meryam Joobeur	Who Do I Belong To

Directors with multiple wins (3 or more)

• David Cronenberg-5
• Denis Villeneuve-4
• Denys Arcand-3

Directors with multiple nominations (3 or more)

• David Cronenberg-10 times (5 wins)
• Atom Egoyan-9 times (2 wins)
• Xavier Dolan-5 times (2 wins)
• Denis Villeneuve-4 times (4 wins)
• Denys Arcand-4 times (3 wins)
• Bob Clark-3 times (2 wins; co-tie with Cronenberg)

See also

• Prix Iris for Best Director