Canadian Book Prizes

Please note that details and deadlines are subject to change, and that the list below does not include full eligibility criteria. Some awards require the applicant to be a Canadian citizen; others only require residence. Most require work to have been published in the previous calendar year. Many require multiple copies of books. Always contact award committees for full guidelines before submitting your work.

• B.C. Historical Federation Writing Competition
  Mailing Address: Barbara Hynek, BC Historical Federation Writing Competition, 2477 140th Street, Surrey, BC, V4P 2C5
  Phone: (604) 535-9090
  Email: bhynek [at] telus.net
  Website: http://bchistory.ca/awards/book/index.html
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing. Cash prize ($100 to $300) for most significant book on any facet of British Columbia's history. Author need not be B.C. resident.
  

• Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
  Mailing Address: Canadian Children's Book Centre, Suite 101, 40 Orchard View Blvd, Toronto ON M4R 1B9
  Phone: (416) 975-0010
  Fax: (416) 975-8970
  Email: ccbc [at] bookcentre.ca
  Website: www.bookcentre.ca
  More information: $1,000 to best historical fiction for young people. All works of historical fiction selected for CCBC's Our Choice List are automatically placed on Bilson shortlist.
  

• Ann Connor Brimer Award
  Website: www.writers.ns.ca/competitions.html
  Deadline: October 31
  More information: $2000 prize to best fiction or non-fiction children's book published in previous 12 months. Author must be Atlantic Canadian.
  

• Canada-Japan Book Award
  Mailing Address: Alexis Andrew, Acting Program Officer OR Janet Riedel Pigott, Acting Director, Endowments and Prizes, Canada Council for the Arts, 350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5V8
  Phone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free)
  TTY (TDD) for hearing-impaired callers: (613) 565-5194
  Fax: (613) 566-4430
  Website: http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/canada_japan_literary/
  Deadline: April 30
  More information: $10,000 to outstanding book by Canadian author on Japan, Canadian translation of Japanese author or by a Japanese-Canadian writer. Publishers nominate.
  

• CAA Awards
  Mailing Address: Alec McEachern, Canadian Authors' Association, 320 South Shores Road, Box 419, Campbellford, ON, K0L 1L0
  Phone: (705) 653-0323, 1-866-216-6222 (toll-free)
  Fax: (705) 653-0593
  Email: admin [at] canauthors.org
  Website: http://www.canauthors.org/awards/awards.html
  More information: The CAA-BookTelevision Emerging Writer Award (Deadline March 31), The CAA Carol Bolt Award for Plays (Deadline December 15), CAA MOSAID Technologies Inc. Award for Fiction (Deadline December 15, CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History (Deadline December 15), CAA Poetry Award (Deadline December 15).
  

• Canadian Historical Association Awards
  Mailing Address: John Bullen Prize: 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa ON, K1A 0N3
  Phone: (613) 233-7885
  Fax: (613) 567-3110
  Website: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/
  Deadline: November 30
  More information: $500 to best historical doctoral dissertation.
  

• CHA Awards: Wallace K. Ferguson Award
  Website: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/details.asp?sid=785
  Deadline: December 1
  More information: $1,000 to best work of history by Canadian writer on non-Canadian subject.
  

• CHA Awards: Sir John A. MacDonald Prize
  Website: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/details.asp?sid=784
  Deadline: December 1
  More information: $1,000 to non-fiction work which "made the most significant contribution to an understanding of the Canadian past".
  

• CHA Awards: Hilda Neatby Prize in Women's History
  Website: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/details.asp?sid=785
  Deadline: February
  More information: Non-cash prizes to academic articles published in English and French in a Canadian book or journal which made an original and scholarly contribution to the field of women's history.
  

• CHA Awards: The Clio Awards
  Website: http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/scholarships/details.asp?sid=924
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: $1,000 to best work of regional history. Write CHA for committee's regional address.
  

• Canadian Library Association Book Awards: Book of the Year for Children Award
  Mailing Address: 200 Elgin Street, Suite 602, Ottawa ON, K2P 1L5
  Phone: (613) 232-9625 ext.318
  Fax: (613) 563-9895
  Website: www.cla.ca/
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: Medal to best book (fiction, poetry, retelling of traditional stories, anthologies, collections) for children under 14, by Canadian or permanent resident, published in Canada.
  

• CLA Book Awards: Young Adult Canadian Book Award
  Website: http://www.cla.ca/
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: Non-cash award to best English-language fiction book, by Canadian or landed immigrant, published in Canada, for young adults ages 13 to 18.
  

• City of Toronto Book Award
  Mailing Address: Penelope c/o Corporate Communications, 22nd Floor, East Tower, City Hall, Toronto ON, M5H 2N2
  Phone: (416) 392-7346
  Website: www.city.toronto.on.ca/book_awards/index.htm
  Deadline: February 28
  More information: Total of $15,000 to best four to six books in all genres which are evocative of Toronto. No residency requirements.
  

• City of Vancouver Book Award
  Mailing Address: 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 1V4
  Phone: (604) 736-4011
  Fax: (604) 736-4011
  Email: oca [at] city.vancouver.bc.ca
  Website: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/oca/Awards/bageneral.htm
  Deadline: May
  More information: $2,000 to best book in any genre about, or set in, Vancouver. May be fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama, and written for children or adults. No residency requirements.
  

• Dartmouth Book Awards
  Mailing Address: Heather MacKenzie, Alderney Gate Branch, Halifax Regional Library, 60 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth NS, B2Y 4P8
  Phone: (902) 490-5991
  Fax: (902) 490-5889
  Website: http://www.halifax.ca/bookawards/index.html
  Deadline: First Friday in December
  More information: Two $1200 prizes to best fiction and non-fiction books that best celebrate "the spirit of Nova Scotia and its people." No residency requirement
  

• The Donner Prize
  Mailing Address: The Donner Prize c/o Prize Manager, 394A King Street E. Toronto, ON, M5A 1K9
  Phone: (416) 368-8253 or (416) 368-3763
  Fax: (416) 363-1448
  Email: meisnerpublicity [at] sympatico.ca
  Website: http://donnerbookprize.com/
  Deadline: November 30
  More information: $25,000 to best book by Canadian on Canadian public policy, in English or French, published in Canada. Two runners-up receive $5,000.
  

• The Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada, 40 Wellington Street East, Toronto ON M5E 1C7
  Phone: (416) 504-8222
  Fax: (416) 504-9090
  Email: writers.trust [at] sympatico.ca
  Website: www.writerstrust.com/
  Deadline: November 1
  More information: $10,000 to best English-language biography, autobiography or personal memoir, by Canadian or landed immigrant, published in Canada. Send five copies with entry forms and promotional materials.
  

• Arthur Ellis Awards
  Mailing Address: Secretary/Treasurer, Crime Writers of Canada, PO Box 113, 3007 Kingston Road, Scarborough ON M1M 1P1
  Phone: (416) 461-9876
  Fax: (416) 461-4489
  Website: www.crimewriterscanada.com/
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: Prizes for best novel, first novel, short story, juvenile, play and non-fiction in the crime genre. Open to writers resident in Canada or Canadians living abroad.
  

• Marian Engel Award
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada, 40 Wellington Street East, Toronto ON M5E 1C7
  Phone: (416) 504-8222
  Fax: (416) 504-9090
  Email: writers.trust [at] sympatico.ca
  Website: www.writerstrust.com/
  More information: $10,000 to Canadian woman in mid-career, recognizing collective works and future promise.
  

• Lionel Gelber Prize
  Mailing Address: c/o Meisner Publicity and Promotion, 112 Braemore Gardens, Toronto ON M6G 2C8
  Phone: (416) 652-7179
  Fax: (416) 658-5205
  Email: gelberprize.monk [at] utoronto.ca
  Website: http://www.utoronto.ca/mcis/gelber/
  Deadline: October 31
  More information: $50,000 to best non-fiction in the field of international relations, appealing to both scholarly or lay public. Publisher must submit six copies.
  

• The Giller Prize
  Mailing Address: The Giller Prize, Elana Rabinovitch, 2-576 Davenport Rd. Toronto, ON M5R 1K9
  Website: http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/home.htm
  Deadline: Mid-August
  More information: $25,000 to best English-language Canadian novel or short story collection published in Canada. Author must be Canadian or permanent resident.
  

• John Glassco Translation Prize
  Mailing Address: lassco Prize Committee, LTAC, LB 631 Concordia University, 1455, boul. de Maisonneuve ouest, Montréal (Québec) H3G 1M8
  Phone: (514) 848-8702
  Email: info [at] attlc-ltac.org
  Website: http://www.attlc-ltac.org/glasscoe.htm
  Deadline: July 31
  More information: $1,000 to best book-length literary translation in fiction, poetry, drama, essays, children's literature, history, biography or philosophy. Must be translated into English or French, from any language. Must be first book-length translation by entrant, who must be Canadian or landed immigrant.
  

• Danuta Gleed Literary Award
  Mailing Address: administered by the Writers' Union of Canada, 90 Richmond Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1P1
  Website: http://www.writersunion.ca/index.asp
  Deadline: January 31
  More information: $5000 prize for the best first collection of published short stories. To be eligible, submissions must be a first collection of fiction short stories in the English language, written by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, and published in the 2001 calendar year.
  

• Governor General's Literary Awards
  Mailing Address: Josiane Polidori, Writing and Publishing Section, Canada Council for the Arts, PO Box 1047, 350 Albert Street, Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
  Phone: 1-800-263-5588 or (613) 566-4414, ext.5576
  Fax: (613) 566-4410
  Website: www.canadacouncil.ca
  Deadline: Various deadlines
  More information: Seven $10,000 awards for best in English and in French of fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry, drama, children's literature (text and illustration) and translation. Must be Canadian or permanent resident.
  

• Harbourfront Festival Prize
  Mailing Address: Greg Gatenby, Harbourfront, 235 Queen's Quay W., Toronto ON M5J 2G8
  Phone: (416) 973-4760
  Fax: (416) 954-4323
  Email: readings [at] harbourfront.on.ca
  Website: www.readings.org
  More information: $5,000 to mid-career Canadian writer for substantial contribution to Canadian letters. No submissions.
  

• Harold Adams Innes Prize
  Mailing Address: 151 Slater Street, Suite 410, Ottawa ON, K1P 5H3
  Phone: (613) 234-1269 ext. 352
  Fax: (613) 236-4853
  Email: secaspp [at] aspp.hssfc.ca
  Website: http://www.fedcan.ca/english/aspp/prizes/finalists/
  More information: $1,000 to best English-language book-length work of social sciences funded by ASPP.
  

• IODE National Book Award:
  Mailing Address: Marty Dalton, 40 Orchard View Boulevard, Suite 254, Toronto ON M4R 1B9
  Phone: (416) 487-4416
  Fax: (416) 487-4417
  Email: iodecanada [at] bellnet.ca
  Deadline: January 31
  More information: $3,000 to best children's book over 500 words, excepting fairy tales, anthologies and works adapted from other sources.
  

• Laura Jamieson Prize
  Mailing Address: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, 151 Slater Street, Suite 408, Ottawa ON K1P 5H3
  Phone: (613) 563-0681
  Fax: (613) 563-0682
  Email: info [at] criaw-icref.ca
  Website: www.criaw-icref.ca/
  Deadline: June 1
  More information: For non-fiction feminist book by Canadian which advances knowledge and/or understanding of women's experience. Prize awarded for English-language book in odd years (1999, 2001, etc.) and French-language book in even years; book must have been published in previous two calendar years (i.e. 1997 or 1998 for 1999 deadline).
  

• Jewish Book Awards
  Mailing Address: Diane Uslaner, Director of Cultural Programming, Koffler Centre of the Arts, 4588 Bathurst Street, North York ON M2R 1W6
  Phone: (416) 636-1880, ext. 352
  Fax: (613) 636-5813
  Email: duslaner [at] bjcc.ca
  Website: http://www.bjcc.ca/
  Deadline: February 14
  More information: For books by Canadians, published in Canada in previous two calendar years, on subjects of Jewish interest in the following categories: fiction, poetry, biblical/rabbinic scholarship, history, literature for young readers, scholarship on a Canadian Jewish subject, original translation from Yiddish or Hebrew, Yiddish writing, Holocaust history or literature. Annual awards vary with donor between $250 and $1,000.
  

• The Raymond Klibansky Prize
  Mailing Address: Michelle Legault, HSSFC Scholarly Book Prizes, 151 Slater Street, Suite 410, Ottawa ON K1P 5H3
  Phone: (613) 234-1269 ext. 352
  Fax: (613) 236-4853
  Email: secaspp [at] aspp.hssfc.ca
  Website: http://www.fedcan.ca/english/aspp/prizes/
  More information: $1,000 to best English-language book-length work of advanced humanities scholarship funded by the ASPP in that fiscal year.
  

• Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
  Mailing Address: Ms. Judith Rapson, Chair, Award Committee, Stephen Leacock Association; 4223, Line 12 North, R.R. #2 Coldwater, Ontario, L0K 1E0
  Phone: (705) 835-3218
  Fax: (705) 835-5171
  Email: drapson [at] encode.com
  Website: http://www.leacock.ca/
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: Sterling silver medal and $5,000 to year's best humourous book written by Canadian in prose, verse or as drama. Send 10 copies with $25 entry fee, author bio and photo.
  

• LCP Awards: Gerald Lampert Memorial Award
  Mailing Address: The League of Canadian Poets, 920 Yonge Street, Suite 608, Toronto, ON, M4W 3C7
  Phone: (416) 504-1657
  Fax: (416) 504-0096
  Email: marketing [at] poets.ca
  Website: http://www.poets.ca/linktext/awards/lampsub.htm
  Deadline: November 1
  More information: $1,000 to best first book of poetry by a Canadian.
  

• LCP Awards: Pat Lowther Memorial Awards
  Deadline: November 1
  More information: $1,000 to best book of poetry by Canadian woman published in Canada.
  

• C.B. Macpherson Prize
  Mailing Address: The Canadian Political Science Association, 260 Dalhousie Street, Suite 204, Ottawa ON K1N 7E4
  Phone: (613) 562-1202
  Fax: (613) 241-0019
  Website: http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/
  Deadline: December 10
  More information: Biennial award of $750 to best book in the field of political theory, in English or French, by Canadian citizen or permanent resident, excluding textbooks, edited texts, collections of essays and multiple-authored works.
  

• Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada. 40 Wellington Street East, Toronto ON M5E 1C7
  Phone: (416) 504-8222
  Fax: (416) 504-9090
  Email: writers.trust [at] sympatico.ca
  Website: http://www.writerstrust.com/programs_apa_vickymetcalf.html
  More information: $15000 awarded to the author of a body of work in children's literature that, in the opinion of the judges, demonstrates the highest literary standards.
  

• W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada, 40 Wellington Street East, Toronto ON M5E 1C7
  Phone: (416) 504-8222
  Fax: (416) 504-9090
  Email: writers.trust [at] sympatico.ca
  Website: http://www.writerstrust.com/programs_apa_WOMitchell.html
  Deadline: December 31
  More information: $15,000 to Canadian writer who has produced an outstanding body of work, has acted as a "caring mentor" for writers, and has published a work of fiction or had a new stage play produced in the three period specified by annual competition.
  

• Gordon Montador Award
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada
  Website: http://www.writerstrust.com
  More information: Joint $2,000 prize to author and publisher of year's best Canadian book of non-fiction on contemporary social issues.
  

• National Business Book Awards
  Mailing Address: National Business Book Award c/o Freedman & Associates 121 Richmond Street West, Suite 605 Toronto, Ontario M5H 2K1
  Website: http://www.pwc.com
  Deadline: Mid-December
  More information: $10,000 to best business writing. Annual. Co-sponsored by Bank of Montreal.
  

• National Magazine Awards
  Mailing Address: National Magazine Awards Foundation 425 Adelaide Street West, Suite 700 Toronto, ON M5V 3C1
  Phone: (416) 422-1358 or (416) 828-9011
  Email: staff [at] magazine-awards.com
  Website: http://www.magazine-awards.com/
  Deadline: Mid-January
  More information: Cash awards to best magazine articles in several categories. Annual.
  

• bp Nichol Chapbook Award
  Mailing Address: Phoenix Community Works Foundation, 316 Dupont Street, Toronto ON M5R 1V9
  Phone: (416) 964-7919
  Fax: (416) 964-6941
  Website: http://www.pcwf.ca/bpnichol/chapbook/award
  Deadline: March 30
  More information: $1,000 to best poetry chapbook between 10 and 48 pages published in English in Canada.
  

• Gabrielle Roy Prize for Canadian Literary Criticism
  Mailing Address: Lorna Knight, 2B Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 15853-5302
  Phone: (607) 255-3530
  Fax: (607) 255-9524
  Email: lmk22 [at] cornell.edu
  More information: Medal and $150 to best English- and French-language books of literary criticism on Canadian writing, published anywhere. Submissions made by publishers.
  

• Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award
  Mailing Address: Literature Office, Ontario Arts Council, 151 Bloor Street West, Toronto ON M5S 1T6
  Phone: (416) 969-7438
  Fax: (416) 961-7796
  Website: www.arts.on.ca
  More information: $1,500 each to author and illustrator of best picture book, and $2,000 to author of best YA book; all Canadian children's trade books automatically eligible; no application process.
  

• Science in Society Book Awards
  Mailing Address: Canadian Science Writers' Association, PO Box 75, Station A, Toronto ON, M5W 1A2
  Phone: 1-800-796-8595
  Email: office [at] sciencewriters.ca
  Website: http://www.sciencewriters.ca/bookawards2006.htm
  More information: Three $1,000 prizes to best science writing for General Audience, Youth, and Children. Write for submission criteria.
  

• Science in Society Journalism Award
  Mailing Address: Canadian Science Writers' Association
  More information: $1,000 to best science journalism in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and trade publications; fourteen awards altogether. Write for submission criteria.
  

• Donald Smiley Prize
  Mailing Address: The Canadian Political Science Association, 260 Dalhousie Street, Suite 204, Ottawa ON K1N 7E4
  Phone: (613) 562-1202
  Fax: (613) 241-0019
  Email: cpsa [at] csse.ca
  Website: http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/
  Deadline: Early December
  More information: Annual award of $1000 to best book in a field relating to the study of government and politics in Canada, in English or French, by Canadian citizen or permanent resident, excluding textbooks, edited texts and collections of essays.
  

• Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction
  Mailing Address: Kathryn Wardropper, Administrator, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo ON N2L 3C5
  Phone: (519) 884-0710 ext.3109
  Fax: (519) 884-8202
  Email: kwardrop [at] mach1.wlu.ca
  Website: www.wlu.ca/~wwwlib/internet/prizes/staebler.html
  Deadline: April 30
  More information: $3,000 to best creative non-fiction by Canadian with Canadian location and significance. Must be writer's first or second published book.
  

• Viacom Canada Writers' Trust Prize for Canadian Non-Fiction
  Mailing Address: c/o The Writers' Trust of Canada, 40 Wellington Street East, Toronto ON M5E 1C7
  Phone: (416) 504-8222
  Fax: (416) 504-9090
  Website: http://www.writerstrust.com/programs_apa_pearsontrust.html
  Deadline: Various, depending on publication date
  More information: $10,000 prize annually to English-language non-fiction of highest literary merit. Up to four $1,000 runner-up prizes available.
  

• Kenneth Wilson Awards
  Mailing Address: Judy Johnson, Canadian Business Press, 40 Shields Court, Suite 201, Markham ON L3R 0M5
  Phone: (905) 946-8889
  Fax: (905) 479-1711
  Email: cbp [at] pathcom.com
  Website: www.cbp.ca/
  Deadline: Second week of March
  More information: Open to editorial or design staff, freelancers and contributors to specialized Canadian business/professional publications; cash prizes to best cover editorial, marketing, profile, department, feature, news story and graphic design; advertorials not eligible. Write for rules.
  

• Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia's Atlantic Writing Awards
  Mailing Address: 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax NS B3H 4P7
  Phone: (902) 423-8116
  Fax: (902) 422-0881
  Email: talk [at] writers.ns.ca
  Website: www.writers.ns.ca/competitions.html
  Deadline: First Friday in December
  More information:
  

• Atlantic Poetry Prize
  More information: $1,000 to best book of poetry in English by native or resident of Atlantic Canada. Send four copies.
  

• Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
  Deadline: First Friday in December
  More information: $15,000 to best novel or collection of short stories in English by native or resident of Atlantic Canada. Send four copies.
  

• Evelyn Richardson Memorial Non-Fiction Award
  Deadline: First Friday in December
  More information: $1,000 to best non-fiction book in English by native or resident of Atlantic Canada. Send four copies.