The Canadian Game Awards (French: Prix du Jeu Canadien) is an annual awards ceremony dedicated to achievements in the Canadian video game industry. It does not have a specific focus on games produced entirely in Canada, but also includes those with a significant amount of Canadian production staff. The show also highlights actors, esports athletes, and content creators who are from the country or contributed to local productions, even featuring them as presenters. As of 2023, the show is produced by Northern Arena Productions.
It is not the first Canadian awards ceremony dedicated to video games, and is a successor to the Canadian Videogame Awards that ran in the 2010s until their cancellation in 2017. Carl-Edwin Michel, the creator and executive of the Canadian Game Awards, had also worked on the Canadian Videogame Awards in its final years. The Canadian Game Awards began as an online event in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and switched to an in-person format in 2023. The show took a year off in 2024 after the 2023 edition had experienced difficulties in its production.
Starting in 2022, a sister show titled the Canadian Indie Game Awards was launched. This event had a specific focus on indie games and studios. In 2025, it was merged into the main show.
History
Canadian Videogame Awards In 2010, the first Canadian Videogame Awards was held in Vancouver ahead of GDC Canada. The show was produced by the Canadian League of Gamers with support from DigiBC, Reboot Communications, and Greedy Productions. It had also received sponsorships from Xbox, PlayStation, The Georgia Straight, and G4. Dragon Age: Origins won Game of the Year. The other nominees were Assassin's Creed II, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, FIFA 10, and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. Dragon Age: Origins was a multi-award winner, having won Best Writing as well. Assassin's Creed II won the most awards in total, taking Best Console Game, Best Visual Arts, Best Game Design, and Best Technology (which it shared with Prototype).
The 2013 edition of the awards was held with Fan Expo Vancouver, and was aired on Citytv stations nationwide with several weekend repeats on G4 Canada. Far Cry 3 won six awards in total, including the Game of the Year award and the Future Shop Fans' Choice Award. Mass Effect 3 was the runner-up with three wins, including Best Console Game.
In 2014, the show moved to November rather than being held in the first half of the year. This left a big gap from the previous edition of the show, so games from 2013 were included alongside those released in 2014. Furthermore, the event was moved to The Carlu in Toronto. Each year had its own set of winners for each award. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was Game of the Year for 2013, and Watch Dogs was Game of the Year for 2014.
Another move occurred for the 2015 edition of the show, which took place in the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Reboot Communications also announced an agreement with Swaf Media to co-produce future iterations of the Canadian Videogame Awards. This agreement also included a new initiative called the CVA FanFest, a fan convention to take place alongside the awards show. Reboot communications described this as being a long-term arrangement. The convention featured game demos, Counter-Strike tournaments, and gaming merchandise. Assassin's Creed Syndicate secured the Game of the Year award.
Yet another change in venue happened in 2016, this time to the Palais des congrès de Montréal to coincide with the Montréal International Games Summit. This time, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was crowned as the Game of the Year winner. This would be the final iteration of the Canadian Videogame Awards.
The 2017 edition was set to take place alongside many other cultural events for 150th anniversary of Canada in Ottawa. It also was slated to include a gaming tournament called the Canadian Videogame Happening. However, on 17 August 2017, it was announced that the Canadian League of Gamers would no longer be organizing the show on behalf of the video game industry in Canada and that the event was cancelled.
Shows presented by the Canadian Videogame Awards EventDateGame of the YearVenue2010May 5Dragon Age: OriginsVancouver Convention Centre2011May 18Mass Effect 22012April 21FIFA 122013April 20Far Cry 32014November 21Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)The Carlu (Toronto)Watch Dogs (2014)2015December 6Assassin's Creed SyndicateMattamy Athletic Centre (Toronto)2016November 15Deus Ex: Mankind DividedPalais des congrès de Montréal
Canadian Game Awards According to the producer, Carl-Edwin Michel, a major motivator for the awards show is highlighting that many games are produced entirely or in part by Canadian staff. Examples cited by him include Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, EA Sports FC, Dead by Daylight, Warframe, Cuphead, and Celeste. Furthermore, with Canada having the third-largest games industry in the world but no equivalent to the British Academy Games Awards in the United Kingdom or The Game Awards in the United States, there was seemingly no celebration for Canadian creators.
The 2026 Canadian Game Awards saw Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer invited to host the event, both known for voicing the female and male variants of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series. Patricia Summersett, the voice actor of Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, was also invited as a presenter. Victor Lucas was awarded with an honorary award for his work on The Electric Playground. It was a television series that served as a stepping stone into the industry for numerous prolific individuals such as Geoff Keighley and Jade Raymond.
Shows presented by the Canadian Game Awards EventDateGame of the YearStudio of the YearVenue2020September 19Cadence of HyruleKlei EntertainmentVirtual event2021April 10Assassin's Creed ValhallaCertain Affinity Toronto2022April 9Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyUbisoft Toronto2023April 21TunicTUNIC Team / ISOMETRICORP GamesDaniels Spectrum (Toronto)2025February 26BalatroLocalThunkTIFF Lightbox (Toronto)2026May 21South of MidnightCompulsion GamesJohn Bassett Theatre (Toronto)
Shows presented by the Canadian Indie Game Awards EventDateGame of the YearVenue2022April 8Echo Generation Virtual event2023April 20TunicArtscape Daniels Launchpad (Toronto)
Eligibility As of 2023, the eligibility criteria to be a Canadian Game Awards nominee is as follows:
A nominee must have Canadian citizenship or permanent residency One of the following must apply: The developer is Canadian Over 51% of the game is developed in Canada A publisher or studio spearheading the project is Canadian The game was released between January 1 and December 31 in the year before the show Ports are not eligible unless it is a new version with extra content developed by a Canadian studio Early access games are only eligible if the game is available to the public Canadian actors, audio studios, composers, etc. may submit work done on a foreign-made game for consideration Any additional content for a game is eligible as long as it was released in the year before the show
Winners The following are the games, studios, individuals and organizations which have won awards. In brackets are the studios and organizations that are associated with the winning games and individuals. For tables including all nominees, the winner is at the top of the list and marked in bold. The awards were given to the Canadian studios on each game, so their names are typically listed even if others were involved or leading the production.
Canadian Videogame Awards
CVA 2010 AwardWinnerGame of the Year Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare) Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Relic Entertainment) FIFA 10 (EA Canada) Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Capybara Games)Best Console Game Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Relic Entertainment) FIFA 10 (EA Canada) NHL 10 (EA Canada) Prototype (Radical Entertainment)Best Handheld Game Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Capybara Games) Battle of Giants: Dragons (Ubisoft Québec) LEGO Battles (Hellbent Games) MySims Racing (Artificial Mind & Movement) Pandemica (XMG Studio)Best Downloadable Game Critter Crunch (Capybara Games) Implode! (IUGO Mobile Entertainment) Osmos (Hemisphere Games) Pandemica (XMG Studio) Super Monkey Ball 2 (Other Ocean Interactive)Best Audio Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Relic Entertainment) Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare) Skate 2 (EA Black Box) WET (Artificial Mind & Movement)Best Game Design Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (Relic Entertainment) Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Capybara Games) NHL 10 (EA Canada) Prototype (Radical Entertainment)Best Technology Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Prototype (Radical Entertainment) FIFA 10 (EA Canada) Fight Night: Round 4 (EA Canada) Skate 2 (EA Black Box)Best Visual Arts Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Academy of Champions: Soccer (Ubisoft Vancouver) Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare) Fight Night: Round 4 (EA Canada) Punch-Out!! (Next Level Games)Best Writing Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare) Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montréal) Prototype (Radical Entertainment) WET (Artificial Mind & Movement)Best In-Game Cinematic Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Rainmaker Entertainment) LEGO Battles (Hellbent Games) NBA Live 10 (EA Canada) Prototype (Artificial Mind & Movement)Most Promising Game ModNation Racers (United Front Games) Dead Rising 2 (Blue Castle Games) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos-Montréal) Need for Speed: World (EA Black Box) TRON: Evolution (Propaganda Games)
CVA 2011 AwardWinnerGame of the Year Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Dead Rising 2 (Blue Castle Games) FIFA 11 (EA Canada) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montréal)Best Console Game Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Dead Rising 2 (Blue Castle Games) FIFA 11 (EA Canada) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montréal)Best Game on the Go Osmos (Hemisphere Games) Lil' Pirates (IUGO Mobile Entertainment) Scrabble (EA Mobile Montréal) A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! (Frima Studio) Trainyard (Matt Prix)Best Downloadable Game DeathSpank (Hothead Games) Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (Blue Castle Games) HOARD (Big Sandwich Games) Shank (Klei Entertainment) A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! (Frima Studio)Best Audio Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising (Relic Entertainment) Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Beenox) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montréal)Best Social/Casual Game Pocket God (Frima Studio) Dex Hamilton's Bug Quest (March Entertainment) GardenMind (Inspirado Games) Mercenaries of War (Kaboom Games) Pot Farm (Brain Warp Studio)Best Game Design Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) DeathSpank (Hothead Games) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montréal) Trainyard (Matt Rix)Best Technology Kinect (BigPark / Microsoft) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Scrabble (EA Mobile Montréal) Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft Montréal)Best Visual Arts Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Beenox) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montréal) TRON: Evolution (Propaganda Games)Best Writing Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montréal) Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising (Relic Entertainment) Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Ubisoft Montréal)