Even as Canadians have taken Hollywood award season by storm in recent years (see: Canada’s big Oscar wins just last month, Schitt’s Creek’s unprecedented 2020 Emmys sweep), we still have a tendency to treat homegrown Can-con like it’s homework.
This week, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television will be hosting its own major awards show, the Canadian Screen Awards, celebrating the best in Canadian film, TV and digital media across four days, culminating in an hour-long CBC special hosted by Samantha Bee on Sunday night.
To celebrate, we’ve looked at nominees across the Screen Awards’ 145 total categories to come up with 10 nominated shows and movies you should check out. There are also plenty of excellent nominees still currently in theatres—like Brother, Riceboy Sleeps and I Like Movies.
From thought-provoking docs to some seriously funny comedies, here are 10 Canadian Screen Award nominees you can stream right now.
1. 'Sort Of'
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Where to Watch: CBC Gem
Last year’s winner for Best Comedy series is back with another 15 nominations for its sophomore season—including Best Lead Performer for co-creator Bilal Baig, who stars as Sabi, a gender-fluid first-generation Pakistani-Canadian trying to figure out what they want out of life. The groundbreaking Toronto-set series has been racking up accolades ever since it first premiered on CBC in 2021 (the show received a Peabody in 2022, nbd) and shows no signs of slowing down: Sort Of was just renewed for a third season earlier this year.
2. 'Crimes of the Future'
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Where to Watch: Crave, pay download
David Cronenberg triumphantly returns to body horror for Crimes of the Future, set in a world where humanity has evolved beyond pain, and “surgery is the new sex”—and also the newest form of performance art. The legendary Canadian director reteams with Viggo Mortensen along with his longtime production designer/collaborator (and fellow CSA-nominee) Carol Spier, whose alien-looking futuristic surgical machines are more than worth a watch alone, even if you don’t find graphic surgery (or puns about “inner-beauty”) quite as alluring as Cronenberg.
3. 'We’re All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel)'
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Where to Watch: Crave
This one’s for anyone who never missed an ep of Popular Mechanics for Kids growing up: Jay Baruchel goes back to his science show-hosting roots for his new docuseries—only this time, the subject matter’s decidedly less kid-friendly. Baruchel interviews researchers, scientists and other experts while breaking down a range of hypothetical apocalyptic scenarios—from nuclear armageddon to alien invasions (and, of course, global pandemics)—balancing equal parts existential dread with good-natured goofy irreverence.
4. 'Patty vs. Patty'
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Where to Watch: CBC Gem
From writer/director Chris Strikes, this 18-minute CBC Short Documentary tackles a bit of stranger-than-fiction true Canadian history, dramatizing the truly bizarre 1980s beef between Kensington Patty Palace’s Michael Davidson and the federal government over whether or not his beef patties could legally be called a “patty.” Davidson recounts the wild headline-making standoff for Patty vs. Patty, which uses a mix of archival footage and satirical re-enactments to dramatize the so-called Patty Wars. A must-watch for anyone who’s ever thought the 1985 “Patty Summit” deserved its own Heritage Minute.
5. 'Run the Burbs'
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Where to Watch: CBC Gem
Comedian Andrew Phung followed up his scene-stealing supporting role on Kim’s Convenience with a CBC sitcom of his very own in Run the Burbs, which follows a young Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family navigating the suburb life. After racking up five Best Supporting Actor wins for Kim’s Convenience, Phung will be nominated for Best Lead for the first time this year, where he’ll be going up against his co-star and on-screen wife Rakhee Morzaria, as the Screen Awards moves to gender-neutral Best Performance categories for this first time in 2023.
6. 'Letterkenny'
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Where to Watch: Crave
If you (somehow) haven’t already seen this classic Canadian comedy, consider this your annual reminder to add it to your watchlist. Letterkenny has taken home a dozen Screen Awards over the course of 11 seasons and six holiday specials, with its 12th season on tap later this year. It’s not hard to figure out how Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney’s show about the residents of a fictional rural Ontario community has continued to amass a loyal following since it first premiered in 2016: the writing is sharp, the characters are memorable, and the one-liners are rapid-fire, making Letterkenny an excellent binge.
7. 'Kings of Coke'
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Where to Watch: Crave
In need of a true crime fix? Try Montreal journalist/documentary filmmaker Julian Sher’s Kings of Coke, which chronicles the rise and fall of the city’s Irish Mafia. Sher interviews former gang members, cops and journalists in order to trace the trail of blood, bodies and coke that the infamous West End Gang left behind as they grew from local bank robbers to international drug kingpins in this Montreal-made true crime tale.
8. 'Revenge of the Black Best Friend'
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Where to Watch: CBC Gem
Revenge of the Black Best Friend leads the digital media category with nine total nominations, including Best Web Program or Series, thanks in part to the way it manages to weaponize a deceptively-simple message: the era of one-dimensional Black characters needs to end. From creator Amanda Parris, the six-episode series takes aim at the “White Narrative Industrial Complex” as self-help guru Dr. Toni Shakur (Oluniké Adeliyi) attempts to help Black actors resist all-too-common industry stereotypes. You know, like “the sassy Black best friend” or “the guy who dies first in a horror movie.”
9. 'The Porter'
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Where to Watch: CBC Gem
If it’s true that this CBC/BET co-production really won’t be returning for a second season (make it make sense), The Porter seems destined to go out on top, after being nominated for a Screen Awards-leading 19 total nominations, including Best Drama Series, Direction, Writing, and nearly half of the drama category’s Best Lead Performer nominees. Inspired by real events, the acclaimed historical drama tells the story of Black railway porters from the US and Canada who joined forces to create the world’s first Black-led labour union.
10. 'Beautiful Scars'
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Where to Watch: TVO
Based on Tom Wilson’s bestselling 2017 memoir, Beautiful Scars follows the Hamilton musician—best known for his work in bands Junkhouse and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings—as he explores his Mohawk heritage, a secret that was hidden from him by his adoptive parents until he was nearly 60. Out of that painful experience came something beautiful, though: Wilson met his birth mother for the first time thanks to the film, and credits director Shane Belcourt, who’s Métis, with helping the two develop a meaningful relationship.
