Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

The Balsillie Prize for Public Policy is an annual Canadian literary award, presented to honour the year's best non-fiction work on public policy issues. ^[1] Created in 2021, the award is presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada, and sponsored by technology investor Jim Balsillie. ^[2]

Nominees and recipients

Year	Author	Title	Ref
2021	Dan Breznitz	Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World	[3]
	Gregor Craigie	On Borrowed Time: North America's Next Big Quake
	André Picard	Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada's Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic
	Jody Wilson-Raybould	Indian in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power
2022	John Lorinc	Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias	[4]
	Jean Marmoreo, Johanna Schneller	The Last Doctor: Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying	[5]
	Kent Roach	Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change
	Vaclav Smil	How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
	Kim Stanton	Reconciling Truths: Reimagining Public Inquiries in Canada
2023	David R. Samson	Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good	[6]
	Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb	Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence	[7]
	Michelle Good	Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada
	Ryan Manucha	Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada's Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade
	Max Wyman	The Compassionate Imagination: How the Arts Are Central to a Functioning Democracy
2024	Wendy H. Wong	We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age	[8]
	Gregor Craigie	Our Crumbling Foundation: How We Solve Canada's Housing Crisis	[9]
	Christopher Pollon	Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World's Most Vulnerable Places
	M. G. Vassanji	Nowhere, Exactly: On Identity and Belonging
2025	Vince Beiser	Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future	[10]
	Vass Bednar, Denise Hearn	The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians
	Pamela Cross	And Sometimes They Kill You: Confronting the Epidemic of Intimate Partner Violence
	Stephen J. A. Ward	International Publics and the Fate of Democracy

See also

• Donner Prize

References

1. "Jim Balsillie backs new Writers’ Trust prize for public-policy books". The Globe and Mail , February 17, 2021.
2. "Writers' Trust of Canada announces new $60K award for best Canadian book on public policy". CBC Books . February 17, 2021.
3. Vicky Qiao, "Toronto scholar Dan Breznitz wins inaugural $60K Balsillie Prize for best Canadian public policy book". CBC Books, November 24, 2021.
4. Cassandra Drudi, "John Lorinc wins $60,000 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy". Quill & Quire , November 29, 2022.
5. Cassandra Drudi, "Finalists named for 2022 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy". Quill & Quire , September 28, 2022.
6. Cassandra Drudi, "David R. Samson wins 2023 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy". Quill & Quire , November 28, 2023.
7. Talia Kliot, "Canada Reads winner Michelle Good finalist for $60K Balsillie Prize for best public policy book". CBC Books, October 4, 2023.
8. Brad Wheeler, "Wendy H. Wong wins 2024 Balsillie Prize for her book We, The Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age". The Globe and Mail , November 26, 2024.
9. Cassandra Drudi, "Finalists announced for 2024 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy". Quill & Quire , October 2, 2024.
10. "Finalists announced for 2025 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy". CBC Books, October 1, 2025.