Canada has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1971. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. It was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.
As of 2026, Canada has been nominated seven times, winning once for The Barbarian Invasions (2003).
Of the 51 films selected to date as Canada's submission to the Academy Awards, 18 of them have also won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture.
Submissions The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1956. The International Feature Film Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.
The process of choosing the submission is administered by Telefilm Canada.
Between the seven Canadian nominations, three have been directed by Denys Arcand: Jesus of Montreal, (1989); The Decline of the American Empire (1986); and its sequel, The Barbarian Invasions (2003). While Days of Darkness (2007) was shortlisted, but was not nominated.
The other four Canadian filmmakers to have their films nominated are Deepa Mehta for Water (2005), Denis Villeneuve for Incendies (2010), Philippe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar (2011), and Kim Nguyen for War Witch (2012).
Days of Darkness (2007), The Necessities of Life (2008), It's Only the End of the World (2016), and Universal Language (2024), all advanced to the December shortlists, but were not nominated.
Most of the submissions were Québécois films shot in French, with seven exceptions: A Bullet in the Head'''s fictional language (1991), Atanarjuat in Inuktitut (2001), Water in Hindi (2005), Eternal Spring in Mandarin (2022), Rojek in Kurdish (2023), Universal Language in Persian (2024) and The Things You Kill in Turkish (2025). Other French-language submissions have also featured a substantial amount of Inuktitut (The Necessities of Life), Lingala (War Witch), Yiddish (Felix and Meira), and Mohawk and Algonquin (Hochelaga, Land of Souls).
For the 93rd Academy Awards, Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy'' (2020) was disqualified for containing morer than 50% of English dialogue.
Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Canada for review by the academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year(Ceremony) Film title used in nomination Original title Language(s) Director Result 1971(44th) Mon oncle AntoineFrench 1972(45th) The True Nature of Bernadette La Vraie Nature de Bernadette 1975(48th) Orders Les Ordres 1977(50th) J.A. Martin Photographer J.A. Martin photographe 1979(52nd) A Scream from Silence Mourir à tue-tête 1980(53rd) Good Riddance Les Bons débarras 1981(54th) The Plouffe Family Les PlouffeFrench, English 1982(55th) Wild Flowers Les fleurs sauvagesFrench 1983(56th) The Tin Flute Bonheur d'occasion 1984(57th) Sonatine 1985(58th) Jacques and November Jacques et novembre and Jean Beaudry 1986(59th) The Decline of the American Empire Le Déclin de l'empire américainFrench, English 1987(60th) Night Zoo Un zoo la nuitFrench 1988(61st) The Revolving Doors Les portes tournantes 1989(62nd) Jesus of Montreal Jésus de MontréalFrench, English 1990(63rd) An Imaginary Tale Une histoire inventéeFrench 1991(64th) A Bullet in the HeadFictional language 1992(65th) LéoloFrench 1993(66th) The Sex of the Stars Le sexe des étoiles 1994(67th) My Friend Max Mon Amie Max 1995(68th) The Confessional Le Confessional 1996(69th) Not Me! Sous-Sol 1997(70th) Cosmos , ,, ,, 1998(71st) August 32nd on Earth Un 32 Août sur TerreFrench, English 1999(72nd) Set Me Free Emporte-moiFrench 2000(73rd) Maelström 2001(74th) Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner AtanarjuatInuktitut 2002(75th) Un crabe dans la tête Un crabe dans la têteFrench 2003(76th) The Barbarian Invasions Les Invasions barbaresFrench, English 2004(77th) Far Side of the Moon La face cachée de la luneFrench 2005(78th) C.R.A.Z.Y. 2006(79th) WaterHindi, English 2007(80th) Days of Darkness L'Âge des ténèbresFrench 2008(81st) The Necessities of Life Ce qu'il faut pour vivre, InuujjutiksaqFrench, Inuktitut 2009(82nd) I Killed My Mother J'ai tué ma mèreFrench 2010(83rd) IncendiesFrench, Arabic 2011(84th) Monsieur Lazhar 2012(85th) War Witch RebelleFrench, Lingala 2013(86th) GabrielleFrench 2014(87th) Mommy 2015(88th) Felix and Meira Félix et MeiraFrench, Yiddish, English 2016(89th) It's Only the End of the World Juste la fin du mondeFrench 2017(90th) Hochelaga, Land of Souls Hochelaga terre des âmesFrench, English, Mohawk, Algonquin 2018(91st) Family First Chien de gardeFrench 2019(92nd) AntigoneFrench, English, Arabic 2020(93rd) 14 Days, 12 Nights 14 jours, 12 nuitsFrench 2021(94th) Drunken Birds Les Oiseaux ivresFrench, Spanish 2022(95th) Eternal SpringJackson Weaver, "Eternal Spring named Canada's submission for Oscars' best international film". CBC News, August 24, 2022. 長春Mandarin, English 2023(96th) RojekJoseph Pugh, "Documentary about jailed ISIS fighters is Canada's international entry for 2024 Oscars". CBC News, August 24, 2023.Kurdish, English, Arabic, French, German 2024(97th) Universal LanguageJamie Casemore, "Rankin’s Universal Language is Canada’s pick for 97th Oscars". Playback, August 27, 2024. Une langue universelle / آواز بوقلمون French, Persian 2025(98th) The Things You Kill"‘The Things You Kill’ selected as Canada’s submission to the Oscars". Toronto Star, August 26, 2025.Öldürdügün Seyler Turkish 2026(99th) Nina RozaJamie Casemore, "Nina Roza named Canada’s 2027 Oscars submission". Playback, August 25, 2026. Bulgarian, French
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time Cinema of Canada Cinema of Quebec
Notes
References
External links The Official Academy Awards Database The Motion Picture Credits Database IMDb Academy Awards Page