The Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in Comedy Series is an annual Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best leading performance by an actor in a Canadian television comedy series.
The award was first presented in 1986 as part of the Gemini Awards. However, as Canadian television comedy was dominated by sketch comedy rather than narrative sitcoms in the late 1980s, the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Comedy Series were discontinued after 1987,Mike Boone, "Gemini Awards highlight enduring problems of Canadian TV". Montreal Gazette, November 30, 1998. with only a single gender-neutral award presented for Best Performance in a Comedy thereafter; separate awards for Individual Performance in a Comedy and Ensemble Performance in a Comedy were introduced for the 16th Gemini Awards in 2001, but were still not separated for gender."CTV's Nuremberg leads Gemini nominations". The Telegram, September 18, 2001.
With the revival of scripted narrative comedy series in the 2000s, separate awards for actors and actresses were reinstated in 2011, and have been presented since then as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
In August 2022, the Academy announced that beginning with the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, a gender-neutral award for Best Leading Performance in a Comedy Series will be presented.Joseph Pugh, "Canadian Screen Awards switching to gender-neutral performance categories". CBC News, August 25, 2022.
1980s Year Actor Series Ref 1986 1st Gemini Awards Louis Del Grande Seeing Things "Green Gables big Gemini awards winner". Windsor Star, December 5, 1986. Don Adams Check it Out! Sid Adilman, "Anne leads field in Geminis race". Toronto Star, October 16, 1986. David Eisner Hangin' In 1987 2nd Gemini Awards Louis Del Grande Seeing Things Bill Anderson, "Seeing Things shines in Gemini spotlight". Ottawa Citizen, December 10, 1987. David Eisner Hangin' In John Haslett Cuff, "Seeing Things, Night Heat top Gemini nomination list". The Globe and Mail, October 22, 1987.
2010s Year Actor Series Ref 2011 26th Gemini Awards Peter Keleghan 18 to Life Raju Mudhar, "Fitz nabs most Geminis: Top drama and comedy prizes go to The Borgias and Rick Mercer Report". Toronto Star, September 8, 2011. Chris Leavins Todd and the Book of Pure Evil Mishki Vaccaro, "Gemini nominations announced: Flashpoint leads, once again, and controversial Kennedys miniseries gets some nods". Toronto Life, August 4, 2011. Jason Priestley Call Me Fitz John Ralston Living in Your Car 2012 1st Canadian Screen Awards Gerry Dee Mr. D Linda Barnard, "A first night to remember: 'Amazing ride' for Rebelle at inaugural Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, March 4, 2013. Ryan Belleville Almost Heroes Diane Wild, "Canadian Screen Award nominations announced". TV, eh?, January 15, 2013. Shaun Majumder This Hour Has 22 Minutes Bob Martin Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Martin Short I, Martin Short, Goes Home 2013 2nd Canadian Screen Awards Jason Priestley Call Me Fitz Linda Barnard, "Enemy biggest movie winner at Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, March 9, 2014. Jesse Camacho Less Than Kind Chris Jancelewicz, "Canadian Screen Awards 2014: Nominees Announced For TV And Movie Honours". The Huffington Post, January 13, 2014. Gavin Crawford Gavin Crawford's Wild West Gerry Dee Mr. D Ron James The Ron James Show 2014 3rd Canadian Screen Awards Don McKellar Sensitive Skin Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2015: The Rundown". Now, March 2, 2015. Gerry Dee Mr. D "Canadian Screen Awards ’15: Performance categories". Playback, January 13, 2015. Dave Foley Spun Out Adam Korson Seed Mark Meer Tiny Plastic Men 2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek "Canadian Screen Awards 2016: Schitt's Creek, Orphan Black and Room win big". CBC News, March 11, 2016. Gerry Dee Mr. D Brent Furdyk, "2016 Canadian Screen Awards Nominees Announced". ET Canada, January 19, 2016. Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Dave Foley Spun Out 2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience Sarah Murphy, "Here's the Complete List of 2017 Canadian Screen Awards Winners". Exclaim!, March 13, 2017. Gerry Dee Mr. D "Orphan Black, Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience up for Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, January 17, 2017. Jared Keeso Letterkenny Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek 2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience "Canadian Screen Awards 2018: All the winners". Hello! Canada, March 12, 2018. Gerry Dee Mr. D Bridget Liszewski, "Snap Judgment: Canadian Screen Award Nominations 2018" . The TV Junkies, January 16, 2018. Jared Keeso Letterkenny Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek 2018 7th Canadian Screen Awards Jared Keeso Letterkenny Brent Furdyk, "2019 Canadian Screen Awards: Complete list of winners from TV gala". Global News, April 1, 2019. Gerry Dee Mr. D Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek Jason Priestley Private Eyes 2019 8th Canadian Screen Awards Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards: Winners Announced For Scripted Drama, Comedy Categories". ET Canada, May 27, 2020. Jared Keeso Letterkenny Heather Cichowski, "2020 Canadian Screen Awards: 'Schitt's Creek' dominates with 26 nominations". Hello! Canada, February 18, 2020. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Jason Priestley Private Eyes
2020s Year Actor Series Ref 2020 9th Canadian Screen Awards Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience Naman Ramachandran, "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 21, 2021. Jared Keeso Letterkenny Brent Furdyk, "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021. Dan Levy Schitt's Creek Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek 2021 10th Canadian Screen Awards Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience Adina Bresge, "'Scarborough' top film winner at Canadian Screen Awards" . CP24, April 10, 2022. Darryl Hinds Overlord and the Underwoods Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022. Jared Keeso Letterkenny Simu Liu Kim's Convenience Jason Priestley Private Eyes
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