The awards landscape is constantly evolving. Canada’s broadcasting sector has seen major changes over the years: the Canadian Association of Broadcasters was reorganized in 2010, bringing the CAB Gold Ribbon Awards to an end, while ACTRA’s radio-performance awards were eventually discontinued after the television honours moved into the Gemini Awards in 1986. In 2026, two regional broadcasting associations took a different path, merging their separate awards programs into a single new event. This guide tracks that evolution, covering the awards that are active, paused, newly launched, or discontinued.
We’ll keep this list updated as new awards launch and existing ones change, so check back regularly for the latest details.
This is the radio, podcast and sound half of a two-part series. The companion guide, covering Canadian music awards, is coming soon
Updated: August 2026.
Canada’s premier podcast awards honouring podcasts across the medium.
Categories: More than 30 categories, including:
Best Cover Art
Branded Series
Sports and Leisure
It’s one of the few podcast awards to include a cover-art category, which helps set it apart from most awards in the space.
Entry fee: Free to nominate. Eligible podcasts must have released at least five episodes in the calendar year, be produced in Canada or by Canadian creators, and have at least 50% Canadian or permanent-resident hosts.
Trophy: A branded award
Website: canpodawards.ca
When & Where: Nominations typically open in October and close in early November; winners announced in mid-December. attendance.
Recent ceremonies have been shared on YouTube and do not require in-person
Year founded: 2018, by PodCamp Toronto founder John Leschinski
Presented by: The Canadian Podcast Awards, with support from PodCamp & Shure
More Information: Winners are chosen by verified Canadian podcasters through peer voting rather than an outside jury. The organization also runs PodCamp Toronto, an annual networking and learning event for podcasters and digital creators, now in its 18th year.
Editor’s note: We sat down with John Leschinski and will be sharing more from that conversation in the future.
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