The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual

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award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in association with the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

, they present lifetime achievement awards for work in all performing arts domains, including theatre, dance, film, television and radio broadcasting and both popular and classical music; the awards are, however, not necessarily presented exclusively to performers, and may also honour people who have had distinguished careers in the business side of cultural industries, such as film, television and theatre directors and producers. The awards were created in 1992 under the patronage of then Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and his wife Gerda Hnatyshyn. From 1992 to 2014, they typically honoured six figures per year; since 2015 they have honoured five. In addition to the lifetime awards, they also present the National Arts Centre Award to honour a figure who has had significant career achievements within the past year but is not yet considered to be at the "lifetime achievement" stage of their career, and the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts to honour people who have been active in voluntary service to the arts. Recipients of the lifetime achievement and NAC awards receive $25,000 and a commemorative medallion; recipients of the RJH award receive a medallion, but are not given money. The awards are presented at a live gala at the National Arts Centre, and are typically recorded for broadcast by

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at a later date. Once inducted into one of the main "lifetime achievement" categories, a recipient is not honoured again in future years; however, a recipient of the NAC or RJH awards may be later named as a lifetime achievement recipient. In 2025, the program also introduced a program which will see an emerging talent receive a year-long mentorship by a past award recipient.Cassandra Szklarski
"Music producer Bob Ezrin, actor Graham Greene among Governor General's performing arts laureates"
'' Rocky Mountain Outlook'', February 20, 2025.

Controversies

In 1994, Paul Gessell of the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' criticized the foundation for honouring

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, on the grounds that he had lived in the United States for many years and had, according to Gessell, "turned his back" on Canada, and

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, Publishing, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist and Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Qu ...

due to his support of the Quebec sovereignty movement.Paul Gessell, "Back Canada or decline arts award". ''

'', November 6, 1994. He further predicted, correctly, that

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

would be an honoree in the near future, but opined that she was an inappropriate choice for the same reason as Young. In 2001 he criticized the awards for paying lip service to diversity in Canadian arts despite the fact that only two people of colour, pianists

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

and Jon Kimura Parker, had ever been named as honorees as of that time. One named honoree in 2005, singer-songwriter and poet Raymond Lévesque, declined the honour due to his support of the Quebec sovereignty movement. The awards proceeded that year with five lifetime honorees instead of six.Kelly Roesler, "Seven award winners revel in song and dance". ''

'', November 6, 2005. In 2018, Governor General Julie Payette faced controversy when she announced that she would not be presiding over the ceremony, the first time in the history of the awards that the sitting governor general did not attend.Brian Platt, "Julie Payette won't preside over 2018 Governor General's History Awards ceremony". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', September 26, 2018. Payette offered little clarification of her reasons for not attending, but had faced some criticism since the beginning of her term around her apparently limited workload. One past recipient, singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, has had her honour rescinded.

Recipients

1990s

2000s

Due to a change in the award's scheduling from fall to spring, the awards were not presented in 2007."Performing arts awards pushed back to May". ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

'', September 22, 2007.

2010s

Jazz singer

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

was named as the recipient of the National Arts Centre award in 2016;Morgan Lowrie, "Buble and Lantos among winners of Governor General's Performing Arts Awards".

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

, April 14, 2016. however, as he was unable to attend the gala due to vocal cord surgery, he received the award at the 2017 gala instead.

2020s

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2020 gala was cancelled; however, as that year's recipients had already been announced in February before COVID-related lockdowns came into effect, they were honoured at a 2021 gala, with no new honorees named for 2021 itself.Ted Raymond
"Canadian star Ryan Reynolds awarded 2021 Governor General's Performing Arts Award"
CTV News Ottawa, November 27, 2021.

References

External links

*{{official, https://ggpaa.ca/ 1992 establishments in Canada Awards established in 1992 *