The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents one or more annual awards for the Best Screenplay for a Canadian film. Originally presented in 1968 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, from 1980 until 2012 the award continued as part of the Genie Awards ceremony. As of 2013, it is presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
In their present form, two awards are presented for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, although historically this division was not always observed. In the Canadian Film Awards era, two awards were usually presented in Feature and Non-Feature (television films, short films, etc.) categories, although on two occasions the feature category was further divided into separate categories for Original and Adapted Screenplay, resulting in the presentation of three screenplay awards overall, and on two occasions only one award for Non-Feature Screenplay was presented. Under current Academy rules, the categories are collapsed into one if either category has fewer than five eligible submissions within the qualifying period; however, if both categories receive five or more eligible submissions, then separate awards are presented even if one category or the other ends up with fewer than five final nominees.
1960s
Year Nominee Film Ref 196820th Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Non-Feature)Phillip HerschWojeck: "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"| Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . |- | rowspan=3 align="center"| 196921st Canadian Film Awards |- | colspan=3 align=center style="background:#D8D8D8;" | Screenplay (Non-Feature)|- style="background:#FAEB86;" |Joan Finnigan|The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar
1970s
Year Nominee Film Ref 197022nd Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)William FruetGoin' Down the Road Screenplay (Non-Feature)Ian McNeillFreud: The Hidden Nature of Man 197123rd Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)Clément PerronMon oncle Antoine Screenplay (Non-Feature)Don ArioliPropaganda Message and Hot Stuff 197224th Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)Gilles CarleThe True Nature of Bernadette (La Vraie Nature de Bernadette) Screenplay (Non-Feature)Michel TremblayFrançoise Durocher, Waitress 197325th Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)Jacques Benoît, Denys ArcandRéjeanne Padovani Screenplay (Non-Feature)Alvin Goldman, Douglas JacksonThe Sloane Affair 1974 No awards presented this year 197526th Canadian Film Awards Original Screenplay (Feature)Michel BraultOrders (Les Ordres) Adapted Screenplay (Feature)William WeintraubWhy Rock the Boat? Screenplay (Non-Feature)Patricia WatsonA Bird in the House 197627th Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)Ted AllanLies My Father Told Me Les Wedman, "'Lies' named Canada's best at Film Awards". Windsor Star, October 25, 1976. Screenplay (Non-Feature)David KingFor Gentlemen Only 197728th Canadian Film Awards Original Screenplay (Feature)Robin Spry, Peter Pearson, Peter MaddenOne Man Zale Dalen Skip Tracer Frank Daley, "Omens good for film awards show". Ottawa Journal, November 19, 1977. Marcel Sabourin J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe) Ratch Wallace Ragtime Summer Adapted Screenplay (Feature)James DeFeliceWhy Shoot the Teacher? Richard Benner Outrageous! Patricia Watson Who Has Seen the Wind Stephen Zoller Metal Messiah Screenplay (Non-Feature)Cam HubertDreamspeaker 197829th Canadian Film Awards Screenplay (Feature)Martyn BurkePower Play Richard GabourieThree Card Monte "Four films nominated for Etrogs". The Globe and Mail, August 24, 1978.William Gray, John HunterBlood and Guts Screenplay (Non-Feature)Gilles CarleThe Machine Age (L'Âge de la machine)
1980s Year Nominees Film Ref 1980 1st Genie Awards Original screenplay Janis Allen, Dan Goldberg, Len Blum Meatballs Mireille Dansereau Heartbreak (L'Arrache-cœur) Jay Scott, "Changeling leads Canadian Film Award nominees". The Globe and Mail, February 8, 1980. Allan Moyle, John Laing, Stephen Lack The Rubber Gun Jim Osborne Summer's Children Anne Claire Poirier, Marthe Blackburn A Scream from Silence (Mourir à tue-tête) Steven Hilliard Stern Running Adapted screenplay Diana Maddox, William Gray The Changeling Ted Allan It Rained All Night the Day I Left Jean Beaudin, Marcel Sabourin Cordélia R. J. Dryer, Martin Lager Jack London's Klondike Fever Jean-Claude Lord, Jean Salvy Chocolate Eclair (Éclair au chocolat) 1981 2nd Genie Awards Original screenplay Réjean Ducharme Good Riddance (Les Bons débarras) Marc Rosen Final Assignment Jay Scott, "Genie nominations released". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1981. Jean-Claude Labrecque, Jacques Benoit The Coffin Affair (L'Affaire Coffin) Micheline Lanctôt The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) Ken Mitchell The Hounds of Notre Dame Adapted screenplay Max Fischer The Lucky Star Bernard Slade Tribute Ronald Sutherland, Robin Spry Suzanne 1982 3rd Genie Awards Original screenplay Terence Heffernan Heartaches Clay Borris Alligator Shoes Jay Scott, "Les Plouffe, Ticket to Heaven lead the pack: Academy lists Genie nominees". The Globe and Mail, February 4, 1982. Paul Illidge, James Sanderson Head On Adam Arkin, Ian Sutherland, Morrie Ruvinsky Improper Channels Réjean Ducharme Happy Memories (Les Beaux souvenirs) David Cronenberg Scanners Adapted screenplay Roger Lemelin, Gilles Carle The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe) Anne Cameron, Ralph L. Thomas Ticket to Heaven Diana Maddox The Amateur 1983 4th Genie Awards Original screenplay John Hunter The Grey Fox Phil Savath, Laurence Keane, Chris Windsor Big Meat Eater Jay Scott, "Top Genie prospects for Jack Miner move". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1983. David Lee Henry Harry Tracy, Desperado John Juliani, Sharon Riis Latitude 55° Roger Fournier A Day in a Taxi (Une journée en taxi) Adapted screenplay Richard Paluck, Robert Guza, Jr. MelanieAward later rescinded, due to late discovery that it did not meet the qualifications"Melanie adaptation Genie returned". Cinema Canada, No. 96 (May 1983). p. 12. Peter Dion The Hot Touch 1984 5th Genie Awards Screenplay Bob Clark A Christmas Story David Cronenberg Videodrome Jay Scott, "11 nominations for Chapdelaine in Genie race". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1984. Jack Darcus Deserters Timothy Findley The Wars 1985 6th Genie Awards Screenplay Daniel Petrie The Bay Boy Micheline Lanctôt Sonatine Jay Scott, "Bay Boy reels in 11 Genie nominations". The Globe and Mail, February 15, 1985. Michel Langlois, Léa Pool A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel) Don Owen Unfinished Business 1986 7th Genie Awards Screenplay Sandy Wilson My American Cousin Lise Lemay-Rousseau The Alley Cat (Le Matou) "Scorecard of major nominees for tonight's Genie Awards on TV". Toronto Star, March 20, 1986. Mordecai Richler Joshua Then and Now Louise Rinfret, Claude Jutra The Dame in Colour (La Dame en couleurs) 1987 8th Genie Awards Original screenplay Denys Arcand The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) Sharon Riis Loyalties John Allemang, "Arcand's Decline tops Genie nominations with 13". The Globe and Mail, February 5, 1987. Yves Simoneau, Pierre Curzi Intimate Power (Pouvoir intime) Richard Nichol Sitting in Limbo Michael Jones, Andy Jones The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood Adapted screenplay Leon Marr Dancing in the Dark Gordon Pinsent John and the Missus Peter Rowe Lost! 1988 9th Genie Awards Screenplay Jean-Claude Lauzon Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit) Sally Bochner, John N. Smith, Sam Grana Train of Dreams Liam Lacey, "Quebec film picks up 14 nominations: Zoo paces race for Genies". The Globe and Mail, February 17, 1988. Atom Egoyan Family Viewing William D. MacGillivray Life Classes Patricia Rozema I've Heard the Mermaids Singing 1989 10th Genie Awards Original screenplay Trevor Rhone, Glen Salzman Milk and Honey André Melançon, Jacques Bobet The Tadpole and the Whale (La Grenouille et la baleine) Marie-José Raymond, Claude Fournier, Michel Cournot The Mills of Power (Les Tisserands du pouvoir) Guy Maddin Tales from the Gimli Hospital Michael Rubbo Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller Adapted screenplay Norman Snider, David Cronenberg Dead Ringers Jackie Burroughs A Winter Tan Francis Mankiewicz, Jacques Savoie The Revolving Doors (Les Portes tournantes) Robin Spry, Douglas Bowie Obsessed Phil Savath The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick
1990s