The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries."ACTRA". The Canadian Encyclopedia, February 6, 2006. Initially it was organized and presented by the Alliance of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, and were responsible for awarding the Nellie statuettes until 1986."Canada's new TV award makes debut". Toronto Star, April 22, 1986. That year, the television awards were taken over by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to create the new Gemini Awards,"Last Nellie: Charlie Grant's War; Chaykin and Willoughby top actors in final ACTRAs". Montreal Gazette, April 3, 1986. although ACTRA continued to present Nellies in radio categories."CBC sweeps radio awards: CKO's Peter Varley sole winner in private sector". Toronto Star, December 3, 1986.
The organization relaunched the awards in 2003, this time as a more local-focused film industry award, separately presented by each of ACTRA's regional chapters to honour performances in local film and television production, since expanded to incorporate web series and video games.
History ACTRA began presenting the John Drainie Award for distinguished lifetime contribution in broadcasting in 1968,"Broadcasters Honor W.O. Mitchell". Calgary Herald, October 5, 1968. before launching a comprehensive program for television and radio awards in 1972. The 1st ACTRA Awards that year only presented the Drainie Award alongside the new Earle Grey Award for actors and Gordon Sinclair Award for broadcast journalism,Michael Walsh, "Let's hear it for Canada...". The Province, April 21, 1972. with its roster of categories beginning to expand the following year."Murray, Pinsent win ACTRA awards". Red Deer Advocate, May 1, 1973.
By 1978, there began to be talk in the industry of a "Nellie curse", as several broadcast personalities in the past couple of years had been fired or had their shows cancelled very soon after winning an ACTRA award.Don Hammersmith, "Lights, Camera, ACTRA". The Globe and Mail, March 18, 1978. The same year also saw the first widespread complaints about ACTRA's nomination criteria, which limited honours in most categories to ACTRA members; even if ACTRA members had collaborated with non-ACTRA members, then only the ACTRA member could be considered for nomination.Morris Wolfe, "Politics of exclusion seen cheapening ACTRA Awards". The Globe and Mail, March 15, 1978.
That year further saw the public revelation of an unconfirmed but longstanding industry rumour that if Lloyd Robertson had won the award for Best News Broadcaster at the 4th ACTRA Awards in 1975, elements in the audience were planning to pie him in the face just to see if they could cause the normally unflappable Robertson to lose his composure.
By 1980, the CTV network decided to boycott the awards, on the grounds that the members-only rule biased the awards in favour of CBC Television productions;"CTV dropping role in ACTRA Awards". The Globe and Mail, December 31, 1980. the issue arose because the CBC produced most of its programming directly, and thus nearly all CBC programming involved ACTRA members, while CTV broadcast far more programming from independent non-ACTRA producers. The boycott, which continued for several years thereafter, sparked discussions through the early 1980s about how to improve the management and delivery of Canadian television awards.
In this era, there was also significant concern about the fact that ACTRA only presented awards in categories such as acting, writing and journalism, but had no categories for television crafts such as cinematography or editing,"Tonight's ACTRA Awards may be last". Owen Sound Sun-Times, April 16, 1983. as well as a controversy when ACTRA rejected the CBC's proposal of Dan Aykroyd as host,Sid Adilman, "Aykroyd willing to host show". Toronto Star, April 12, 1982. on the grounds that he was working in the United States and not an active ACTRA member.Sid Adilman, "'Thanks a lot, ACTRA,' angry Aykroyd says". Toronto Star, April 15, 1982.
By 1983, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's experimental Bijou Awards, which had been presented for the first time in 1981, were being proposed to replace the ACTRA Awards,Lorne Parton, "TV trade looking at alternatives to the ACTRA awards". The Province, April 21, 1983. but this did not proceed at this time; ultimately, responsibility for presenting the Canadian television awards was transferred to the Academy's new Gemini Awards in 1986.Matthew Fraser, "New awards for TV films announced". The Globe and Mail, May 31, 1985.
Awards transferred to the Academy included the John Drainie Award, a lifetime achievement award for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, and the Earle Grey Award, which transitioned from ACTRA's award for best performance in a television film into the Academy's lifetime achievement award for acting.
Following the launch of the Geminis, the ACTRA Awards continued to honour radio programming.
Revival Beginning in 2002, ACTRA took management of the John Drainie Award back from the Academy, presenting it thereafter at the Banff Television Festival."Suzuki recognized with award". Barrie Examiner, June 11, 2002.
On the 60th anniversary of the national union in 2003, now renamed the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and representing only performers, the ACTRA Awards were resurrected in several of its branches across Canada as a local film and television award, presented by the organization's local chapters in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes to honour achievements in film and television within their own regions. Depending on the level of production activity in their respective regions, some chapters of ACTRA present their awards annually, while others present their awards every two years.
However, the revived ACTRA Awards program also includes a national Award of Excellence, presented to an actor to honour their lifetime achievements;"ACTRA awards make cameo this week". Calgary Herald, February 25, 2003. the national award of excellence is most commonly presented to an actor who is working in Hollywood, and would thus not be eligible for a regional chapter's local award of excellence. However, the national award of excellence is not necessarily always presented annually.
Some awards are handed out for performances, while others are given for union activism and contributions to the industry.
National ACTRA ceremonies CeremonyDateHost(s)Best Television ProgramBest Radio Program1st ACTRA Awards April 14, 1972 Pierre Berton colspan=2 rowspan=3 2nd ACTRA Awards April 30, 19733rd ACTRA Awards March 2, 1974 4th ACTRA Awards April 23, 1975 Next Year in Jerusalem5th ACTRA Awards April 21, 1976 Emily Carr Pro Nobis Peccatoribus 6th ACTRA Awards April 14, 1977 Beaverbrook: Life and Times of Max Aitken The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe7th ACTRA Awards March 22, 1978 Gordon Pinsent Aberfan A Bite of the Big Apple8th ACTRA Awards April 4, 1979 Gordon Pinsent, Don Harron A Gift to Last The Other Self9th ACTRA Awards April 9, 1980 Dave Broadfoot Drying Up the Streets Aftermath of Jonestown10th ACTRA Awards April 3, 1981 Gordon Pinsent The Canadian Establishment Sunday Morning11th ACTRA Awards May 12, 1982 Jim Carrey, Dixie Seatle Just Another Missing Kid This Year In Jerusalem12th ACTRA Awards April 16, 1983 Don Harron Billy Bishop Goes to War Fruit of the Poisoned Tree13th ACTRA Awards April 3, 1984 Laurier LaPierre, Ann Mortifee, Jayne Eastwood The Undaunted The Panther and the Jaguar14th ACTRA Awards April 3, 1985 Roger Abbott, Joyce Davidson Chautauqua Girl George Orwell: A Radio Biography15th ACTRA Awards April 2, 1986 Don Harron, Pierre Berton, Barbara Frum, Gordon Pinsent, Dave Broadfoot, Ann Mortifee Charlie Grant's War Glenn Gould: The Well-Tempered Polymath
National Award of Excellence recipients 2003 — Leslie Nielsen 2004 — Lloyd Bochner 2005 — Tonya Williams 2007 — Kiefer Sutherland 2009 — Sandra Oh 2010 — Eugene Levy 2011 — Bruce Greenwood 2015 — Jason Priestley 2016 — Neve Campbell 2017 — Kim Coates 2018 — Molly Parker 2019 — Jay Baruchel 2020 — Catherine O'Hara
Regional awards ceremonies UBCP/ACTRA Awards (Vancouver) 2012–2022 Year Best Lead Actor Best Lead Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Emerging Performer Best Voice Best Stunt 2012 Stephen Lobo (Sisters & Brothers) Camille Sullivan (Afghan Luke) rowspan="8" colspan="2" Kacey Rohl (Sisters & Brothers) Andrea Libman (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic) Phil Mitchell (True Justice) 2013 John Pyper-Ferguson (Motive) Gabrielle Rose (Crimes of Mike Recket) Tyler Johnston (Motive) Nicole Oliver (The Littlest Pet Shop) Colby Chartrand (True Justice) 2014 Ian Tracey (Continuum) Sara Canning (Remedy) Taylor Hill (Leap 4 Your Life) Andrea Libman (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic) Leif Havdale (Arrow) 2015 Michael Eklund (Eadweard) Camille Sullivan (Ally Was Screaming) Dakota Daulby (Black Fly) Brian Drummond (Nerds and Monsters) Leif Havdale (Arrow) 2016 Aleks Paunovic (Numb) Camille Sullivan (The Birdwatcher) Jacob Tremblay (Room) Lee Tockar (Slugterra) Adrien Hein (Arrow) 2017 Adrian Holmes (19-2) Tammy Gillis (Menorca) Adam DiMarco (Marrying the Family) Rebecca Husain (Beat Bugs) Simon Burnett, Leif Havdale, Corry Glass, and Jon Kralt (Supergirl) 2018 Bob Frazer (The Cannon) Karin Konoval (The X-Files) Daniel Doheny (Adventures in Public School) Sabrina Pitre (Chuck's Choice) Brett Chan, Gerald Paetz, Andrew Chin, and Mark Chin (Darc) 2019 Ben Cotton (Crown and Anchor) Camille Sullivan (Kingsway) Steven Roberts (In God I Trust) Erin Mathews (Super Monsters Furever Friends) Eli Zagoudakis, Nathaniel Shuker, and Marshall Bingham (Arrow) 2020 John Cassini (Daughter) Carmen Moore (Rustic Oracle) Brendan Fletcher (Night Hunter) Jenn MacLean-Angus (Daughter) rowspan="3" Giles Panton (Absolute Carnage) Corry Glass and Adrian Hein (The Detour – The Sister) "John Cassini and Carmen Moore Among Winners of 9th Annual UBCP/ACTRA Awards". Broadway World, November 22, 2020. 2021 Christopher Shyer (Debris) Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter) Hiro Kanagawa (Deeper I Go) Eden Summer Gilmore (The Good Doctor) Brent Miller (Ninjago) Brett Chan, Andrew Chin, Yusuf A. Ahmed, Aliya Iskakova, Jennifer Li, and Derick Vizcarra (Kung Fu) 2022 Stephen Lobo (Donkeyhead) Agam Darshi (Donkeyhead) Eric McCormack (Drinkwater) Leah Gibson (Joe Pickett) Ian Hanlin (Angry Birds: Summer Madness) Marny Eng, Colby Chartrand, Kevin Fortin, Leif Havdale, and Jeff Sanca (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)
2023–2025 After the 2022 awards, the categories of Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were eliminated, and the Best Performance, Made for Television Movie and Best Short Performance categories were added.