Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress
{{Short description|Award}}
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actress in a Canadian film.{{cite book|first=Maria |last=Topalovich |title=And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards |publisher=Stoddart Publishing |date=2000 |isbn=0-7737-3238-1 }} The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.
From 1980 until 2012, the award was presented as part of the Genie Awards ceremony; since 2013, it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.
From 1980 to 1983, only Canadian actresses were eligible for the award; non-Canadian actresses appearing in Canadian films were instead considered for the separate Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress.{{cite news|first=Jay |last=Scott |title=Canadian films do Jekyll and Hyde act |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=February 27, 1982}} After 1983, the latter award was discontinued, and from 1986 both Canadian and foreign actresses were eligible for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.{{cite news|title=Genie rules changed to include Americans |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=October 9, 1985}}
In August 2022, the Academy announced that it will discontinue its past practice of presenting gendered awards for film and television actors and actresses; beginning with the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, gender-neutral awards for Best Performance will be presented, with eight nominees per category instead of five.Joseph Pugh, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/csa-gender-neutral-performance-1.6561219 "Canadian Screen Awards switching to gender-neutral performance categories"]. CBC News, August 25, 2022. Lead performances are now honoured with the Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in a Film.
1960s
| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" |
| style="background:#bebebe;"
! style="width:8%;"| Year ! style="width:19%;"| Nominee ! style="width:19%;"| Film ! style="width:2%;"| Ref |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1968 20th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;"
| Isabel |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1969 21st Canadian Film Awards |
| colspan=2 align=center | No award presented this year |
1970s
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| style="background:#bebebe;"
! style="width:8%;"| Year ! style="width:19%;"| Nominee ! style="width:19%;"| Film ! style="width:2%;"| Ref |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1970 22nd Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;" |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1971 23rd Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;"
| Ann Knox |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1972 24th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;"
| The True Nature of Bernadette (La Vraie Nature de Bernadette) |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1973 25th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;" |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1974 |
| colspan=2 align=center|No award presented |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1975 26th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;" |
| rowspan=2 align="center"| 1976 27th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;" |
| rowspan=5 align="center"| 1977 28th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;"
| J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe) |
| Jayne Eastwood
| One Man | rowspan=3| "Back stage". The Globe and Mail, October 15, 1977. |
| Carole Laure
| The Angel and the Woman (L'Ange et la femme) |
| Hollis McLaren |
| rowspan=5 align="center"| 1978 29th Canadian Film Awards |
| style="background:#FAEB86;" |
| Micheline Lanctôt
| rowspan=3| "Four films nominated for Etrogs". The Globe and Mail, August 24, 1978. |
| Celine Lomez |
| Andrée Pelletier |
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
Notes
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