The 8th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 25–28 May 2020 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019. The presentations were held as a series of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nominations were announced on 18 February, with François Girard's The Song of Names leading in film nominations with 9, and Dan and Eugene Levy's sitcom Schitt's Creek leading in television with 26 nominations.Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Prepare for a Schitt's show". Now, February 18, 2020. Sophie Deraspe's Antigone would be the most-awarded film and win Best Motion Picture, while Cardinal would be the most-awarded television series.
Ceremony information The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held on 29 March 2020."Alex Trebek among special 2020 Canadian Academy award recipients". Red Deer Advocate, December 5, 2019. On 12 March, the Academy announced that the Canadian Screen Awards and all associated activities had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada."Canadian Screen Awards brace for 'disastrous' financial impact after cancellation". Canadian Press, March 12, 2020. On 28 March, the Academy stated that it would announce the winners at a later date "when the time is right", citing the "great uncertainty" of the situation."Academy postpones Canadian Screen Award winners reveal until 'time is right'". CBC News, March 28, 2020.
On 5 May 2020, the Academy announced that it would present the awards as a series of pre-recorded virtual presentations streamed on its website and social media outlets from 25–28 May. The streaming presentations were produced with the support of the CBC, CTV, and Telefilm Canada."Canadian Screen Award winners to reveal 2020 winners in virtual presentations". Toronto Star, May 5, 2020. The first stream on 25 May presented the awards in news, sports, and documentary categories.Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards 2020: Non-Fiction Winners Revealed". ET Canada, May 25, 2020. Children's, youth, lifestyle, and reality programming were presented on 26 May,Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards: Winners Revealed In Lifestyle And Reality, Children’s And Youth Categories". ET Canada, May 26, 2020. scripted television programming was presented on 27 May,Debra Yeo, "‘Cardinal’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’ get multiple going-away gifts from the Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, May 27, 2020. and films were presented on 28 May.Debra Yeo, "Quebec film ‘Antigone’ wins Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture". Toronto Star, May 28, 2020.
Special awards The first recipients of the academy's special awards were announced on December 4, 2019.Corey Atad, "Alex Trebek, David Suzuki, Dan Levy And More Among 2020 Canadian Screen Awards Special Honourees". ET Canada, December 4, 2019.
Lifetime Achievement Award: David Suzuki Margaret Collier Award: David Shore Radius Award: Dan Levy Earle Grey Award: Tina Keeper Academy Icon Award: Alex Trebek Gordon Sinclair Award: Anton Koschany Board of Directors Tribute: Michael Donovan, Robin Mirsky Humanitarian Award: Nathalie Younglai Industry Leadership Award: Crave Outstanding Media Innovation Award: Secret Location
Despite having been announced in the leadup to the 2020 awards, the special awards were all ultimately presented at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, with no new recipients named for that year.
Film Best Motion Picture Best Director Antigone — Marc DaigleAnne at 13,000 Ft. — Dan Montgomery, Kazik Radwanski The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open — Tyler Hagan, Lori Lozinski The Twentieth Century — Ménaïc Raoul, Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette White Lie — Karen Harnisch, Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas, Katie Bird Nolan, Lindsay Tapscott | valign="top" | Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Sophie Deraspe, Antigone Kazik Radwanski, Anne at 13,000 Ft. Matthew Rankin, The Twentieth Century Calvin Thomas and Yonah Lewis, White Lie Best Actor Best Actress Mark O'Brien, Goalie Dan Beirne, The Twentieth Century Marc-André Grondin, Mafia Inc. Ryan McDonald, Black Conflux Gilbert Sicotte, And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Nahéma Ricci, Antigone Deragh Campbell, Anne at 13,000 Ft. Violet Nelson, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Kacey Rohl, White Lie Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Rémy Girard, And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Douglas Grégoire, Kuessipan Matt Johnson, Anne at 13,000 Ft. Andy McQueen, Disappearance at Clifton Hill Daniel Stern, James vs. His Future Self Nour Belkhiria, Antigone Leanna Chea, 14 Days, 12 Nights (14 jours, 12 nuits) Larissa Corriveau, Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparus) Yamie Grégoire, Kuessipan Alison Midstokke, Happy Face Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Jonas Chernick and Jeremy Lalonde, James vs. His Future Self Anne Émond, Young Juliette (Jeune Juliette) Matthew Rankin, The Twentieth Century Calvin Thomas and Yonah Lewis, White Lie 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 and Jean Barbe, Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) Myriam Verreault and Naomi Fontaine, Kuessipan Best Feature Length Documentary Best Short Documentary Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up — Tasha Hubbard, George Hupka, Jon Montes, Bonnie Thompson, Kathy Avrich-Johnson, David Christensen, Janice DaweAlexander Odyssey (Alexandre le fou) — Pedro Pires Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind — Martha Kehoe, Joan Tosoni, John Brunton, John Murray, Gary Slaight, Allan Slaight Invisible Essence: The Little Prince — Gordon Henderson, Michael A. Levine, Michel St. Cyr, Guy Villeneuve, Stuart Henderson, Jake Yanowski, Mathieu Amadei, Charles Officer Prey — Matt Gallagher, Cornelia Principe | valign="top" | Take Me to Prom — Andrew MoirAcadiana — Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin, Jean-Pierre Vezina Gun Killers — Jason Young, Rohan Fernando, Annette Clarke No Crying at the Dinner Table — Carol Nguyen, Aziz Zoromba Now Is the Time — Christopher Auchter, Selwyn Jacob, Shirley Vercruysse |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Live Action Short Drama ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Animated Short |- | valign="top" | Pick — Alicia K. HarrisBlack Forest (Forêt Noire) — Jean-Marc E. Roy, Philippe David Gagné, Julie Groleau Just Me and You (Juste moi et toi) — Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, Johannie Deschambault Kinship — Jorge Camarotti My Boy (Mon Boy) — Sarah Pellerin, Fanny-Laure Malo, Annie-Claude Quirion | valign="top" | Giant Bear — Neil Christopher, Daniel Gies, Emily PaigeDocking — Trevor Anderson, Alyson Richards Pinch — Diego Maclean Shannon Amen — Chris Dainty, Maral Mohammadian, Michael Fukushima Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days — Regina Pessoa, Abi Feijó, Julie Roy, Reginald de Guillebon |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Art Direction / Production Design ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Cinematography |- | valign="top" | Dany Boivin, The Twentieth Century Chris Crane, Run This Town Jennifer Morden and Danny Haeberlin, Riot Girls François Séguin and Pierre Perrault, The Song of Names Marian Wihak and Svjetlana Jaklenec, Stand! Norm Li, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Josée Deshaies, A Brother's Love (La femme de mon frère) Catherine Lutes, Disappearance at Clifton Hill Gregory Middleton, American Woman Brendan Steacy, Lucky Day Best Costume Design Best Editing Patricia McNeil, The Twentieth Century Anne Dixon, The Song of Names Patricia McNeil, A Brother's Love (La femme de mon frère) Caroline Poirier, And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Marissa Schwartz and Mara Zigler, American Woman Geoffrey Boulangé and Sophie Deraspe, Antigone Lara Johnston, Mouthpiece Cam McLauchlin, Disappearance at Clifton Hill Simone Smith, Goalie Wiebke von Carolsfeld, An Audience of Chairs Best Overall Sound Best Sound Editing Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariépy Strobl, Mark Appleby and Daniel Bisson, The Song of Names Stéphane Bergeron, Antigone Jean Camden, Sylvain Bellemare, Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Stéphane Larivière, And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) Gavin Fernandes and Normand Lapierre, Jouliks David Ottier, Matt Chan and Graham Rogers, Goalie Francine Poirier, Claude Beaugrand, Michel B. Bordeleau, Raymond Legault, Lise Wedlock and Natalie Fleurant, The Song of Names Paul Germann, Claire Dobson, John Sievert, Jason Charbonneau and Randy Wilson, Disappearance at Clifton Hill Krystin Hunter, Brent Pickett, Paul Germann, Goro Koyama and Sandra Fox, Goalie Dashen Naidoo, Tyler Whitham, Stephen Barden, Scott Donald and Nelson Ferreira, Lucky Day Nelson Ferreira, Dashen Naidoo, J.R. Fountain and Dustin Harris, Run This Town Best Original Score Best Original Song Howard Shore, The Song of Names Robert Carli, Lie Exposed Peter Chapman, Riot Girls Ian LeFeuvre and Stephen Krecklo, James vs. His Future Self Andrew Lockington, The Kindness of Strangers Howard Shore, "The Song of Names (Cantor Prayer)" — The Song of Names Peter Chapman and Leslie Seaforth, "We Run the World" — Riot Girls Ian LeFeuvre, "Travel Through" — James vs. His Future Self Bramwell Tovey and Richard Bell, "I've Got a Big One" — Brotherhood Best Makeup Best Hair Fanny Vachon, The Song of Names Brandi Boulet and Chris Bridges, Riot Girls Randy Daudlin, Goalie Emily O'Quinn, Steve Newburn and Neil Morrill, Run This Town Candice Ornstein, American Woman Nermin Grbic, The Twentieth Century Dann Campbell, Riot Girls Michelle Coté, Péter Gyongyosi and Erzsébet Racz, The Song of Names Peggy Kyriakidou, American Woman Nathan Rival, The Kindness of Strangers Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary Pedro Ruiz, Havana, from on High Mathieu Arsenault, Head First (Tenir tête) Grant Baldwin, This Mountain Life Léna Mill-Reuillard, Stéphanie Weber Biron and Étienne Boilard, City Dreamers Pedro Pires, Alexander Odyssey (Alexandre le fou) Sophie Leblond, Pedro Pires and Sylvia de Angelis, Alexander Odyssey (Alexandre le fou) Nick Hector, Prey Bruce Lapointe, Invisible Essence: The Little Prince David New, Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies Eamonn O'Connor and Daniel Roher, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band Best Visual EffectsJohn Dunning Best First Feature Award Adam Jewett, Steve Ramone, Michelle Brennen, Tim Sibley, Aneesh Bhatnagar, Saikrishna Aleti, Peter Giliberti, Alex Basso, Arminus Billones and Marshall Lau, Brotherhood Sam Javanrouh and Helen Thach, Astronaut Steven Sangster, Road to the Lemon Grove Benoît Brière and Kinga Sabela, Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) Marc-Antoine Rousseau, The Song of Names Murmur — Heather YoungBlack Conflux — Nicole Dorsey Mad Dog Labine — Jonathan Beaulieu-Cyr, Renaud Lessard Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) — Guillaume de Fontenay The Twentieth Century — Matthew Rankin |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Special awards ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | |- | valign="top" | Golden Screen Award: Compulsive Liar (Menteur)
Television
Programs Drama Series Comedy Series Cardinal Anne with an E Coroner Mary Kills People Vikings Schitt's Creek Jann Kim's Convenience Letterkenny Workin' Moms Animated Program or series Documentary Program Corner Gas Animated Cupcake & Dino: General Services Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood Total Dramarama Wild Kratts To the Worlds Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters Humboldt: The New Season I Think You've Been Looking for Me