Popular Media Award

Deadline: June 1

Although there is no standard application form, submissions should include the following:

  • A biography or curriculum vitae of the nominee, with links to relevant work samples, websites, testimonials, and/or publicity.
  • Two to three letters of support for the nomination. Letters may come from anyone who can attest to the quality and impact of the nominee’s work.

Please note that as of 2022, Canada’s History will no longer request or accept hard copies of work material. We will follow up with nominees if we require hard copies of their work for review purposes.

Submissions can be sent via email to: prixbertonawards@canadashistory.ca 

If you have any questions about the Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: the Pierre Berton Award, please email Joanna Dawson, Director of Programs.

Rules and Criteria

Eligible nominees are individuals or organizations that have helped popularize Canadian history with the written word through such means as publications, film, radio, television, theatre, voluntarism or the web.

  • The nominee’s work must be of a national stature, and be publicly available to Canadian consumers in English or in French
  • The work must be about actual people and events in Canadian history, or composites of events known to have happened.
  • Nominees are considered on the basis of the quality of their research and their writing, and the overall contribution and impact of their work to fostering a better understanding of our past.
  • Posthumous nominations will not be considered.
  • Past Recipients will not be considered for a second nomination.
  • Individual nominations will not be considered more than three times.
  • Current Members of the Board and Advisory Council, Employees, and their immediate family will not be eligible.