The Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress 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 actress 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 Actress and Best Actor 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 Martha Gibson Seeing Things "Green Gables big Gemini awards winner". Windsor Star, December 5, 1986. Lally Cadeau Hangin' In Sid Adilman, "Anne leads field in Geminis race". Toronto Star, October 16, 1986. Janet-Laine Green Seeing Things 1987 2nd Gemini Awards Dinah Christie Check it Out! Bill Anderson, "Seeing Things shines in Gemini spotlight". Ottawa Citizen, December 10, 1987. Lally Cadeau Hangin' In John Haslett Cuff, "Seeing Things, Night Heat top Gemini nomination list". The Globe and Mail, October 22, 1987. Martha Gibson Seeing Things Janet-Laine Green Seeing Things
2010s Year Actor Series Ref 2011 26th Gemini Awards Tracy Dawson Call Me Fitz Raju Mudhar, "Fitz nabs most Geminis: Top drama and comedy prizes go to The Borgias and Rick Mercer Report". Toronto Star, September 8, 2011. Angela Asher 18 to Life Mishki Vaccaro, "Gemini nominations announced: Flashpoint leads, once again, and controversial Kennedys miniseries gets some nods". Toronto Life, August 4, 2011. Grace Lynn Kung InSecurity Brooke Nevin Call Me Fitz 2012 1st Canadian Screen Awards Wendel Meldrum Less Than Kind Linda Barnard, "A first night to remember: 'Amazing ride' for Rebelle at inaugural Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, March 4, 2013. Jennifer Irwin Mr. D Diane Wild, [https://www.tv-eh.com/2013/01/15/canadian-screen-award-nominations-announced/ "Canadian Screen Award nominations announced". TV, eh?, January 15, 2013. Cathy Jones This Hour Has 22 Minutes Natalie Lisinska InSecurity Tommie-Amber Pirie Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2013 2nd Canadian Screen Awards Tracy Dawson Call Me Fitz Linda Barnard, "Enemy biggest movie winner at Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star, March 9, 2014. Wendel Meldrum Less Than Kind Chris Jancelewicz, "Canadian Screen Awards 2014: Nominees Announced For TV And Movie Honours". The Huffington Post, January 13, 2014. Carrie-Lynn Neales Seed Nancy Sorel Less Than Kind 2014 3rd Canadian Screen Awards Joanna Cassidy Call Me Fitz Norman Wilner, "Canadian Screen Awards 2015: The Rundown". Now, March 2, 2015. Andrea Martin Working the Engels "Canadian Screen Awards ’15: Performance categories". Playback, January 13, 2015. Carrie-Lynn Neales Seed Kacey Rohl Working the Engels Julia Voth Package Deal 2015 4th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek "Canadian Screen Awards 2016: Schitt's Creek, Orphan Black and Room win big". CBC News, March 11, 2016. Brittany LeBorgne Mohawk Girls Brent Furdyk, "2016 Canadian Screen Awards Nominees Announced". ET Canada, January 19, 2016. Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Belinda Cornish Tiny Plastic Men 2016 5th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek Sarah Murphy, "Here's the Complete List of 2017 Canadian Screen Awards Winners". Exclaim!, March 13, 2017. Andrea Bang Kim's Convenience "Orphan Black, Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience up for Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, January 17, 2017. Kim Cattrall Sensitive Skin Jennifer Dale What Would Sal Do? Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience 2017 6th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek "Canadian Screen Awards 2018: All the winners". Hello! Canada, March 12, 2018. Andrea Bang Kim's Convenience Bridget Liszewski, "Snap Judgment: Canadian Screen Award Nominations 2018" . The TV Junkies, January 16, 2018. Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience 2018 7th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek Brent Furdyk, "2019 Canadian Screen Awards: Complete list of winners from TV gala". Global News, April 1, 2019. Dani Kind Workin' Moms Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms Cindy Sampson Private Eyes 2019 8th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards: Winners Announced For Scripted Drama, Comedy Categories". ET Canada, May 27, 2020. Jann Arden Jann Heather Cichowski, "2020 Canadian Screen Awards: 'Schitt's Creek' dominates with 26 nominations". Hello! Canada, February 18, 2020. Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Michelle Mylett Letterkenny Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience
2020s Year Actor Series Ref 2020 9th Canadian Screen Awards Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek Naman Ramachandran, "‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Blood Quantum’ Triumph at Canadian Screen Awards". Variety, May 21, 2021. Dani Kind Workin' Moms Brent Furdyk, "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021. Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience 2021 10th Canadian Screen Awards Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience Adina Bresge, "'Scarborough' top film winner at Canadian Screen Awards" . CP24, April 10, 2022. Jann Arden Jann Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022. Andrea Bang Kim's Convenience Dani Kind Workin' Moms Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases
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