The Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Drama Film is an annual award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television as part of the Canadian Screen Awards program, to honour the best leading performance in a drama film.
After the academy announced in August 2022 that it was discontinuing its former gendered awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, [1] they presented only a single award for Best Lead Performance in a Film at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023. [2] The organization subsequently decided to increase the number of acting awards again, with the new awards separated by genre of film instead of performer gender; beginning with the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024, distinct awards will now be presented for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film and Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film. [3]
| Year | Actor | Film | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 12th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| Amrit Kaur | The Queen of My Dreams | [4] | |
| Ariane Castellanos | Richelieu | [5] | |
| Rayan Dieudonné | Kanaval | ||
| Juliette Gariépy | Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) | ||
| Mia Goth | Infinity Pool | ||
| Oyin Oladejo | Orah | ||
| Théodore Pellerin | Solo | ||
| Alexander Skarsgård | Infinity Pool | ||
| 2024 13th Canadian Screen Awards | |||
| Oluniké Adeliyi | Village Keeper | [6] | |
| Christine Beaulieu | The Thawing of Ice (La fonte des glaces) | ||
| Sean Dalton | Skeet | ||
| Chaïmaa Zineddine Elidrissi | Gamma Rays (Les Rayons gammma) | ||
| Britt Lower | Darkest Miriam | ||
| Carrie-Anne Moss | Die Alone | ||
| Oshim Ottawa | Atikamekw Suns (Soleils Atikamekw) | ||
| Sebastian Stan | The Apprentice |