As the Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its Top Ten Canadian Films of 2011 last night, TIFF programmer and event co-MC Steve Gravestock also used the occasion to say goodbye to his colleague, TIFF’s director of Canadian Initiatives, Karen Bruce.

The announcement surely surprised many in the audience, as Bruce has been with TIFF for almost 12 years, becoming the Canadian face of one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals.

Bruce’s position has been eliminated in the organization due to restructuring, Piers Handling, president and CEO, TIFF, said in an emailed statement to Playback this morning.

“The promotion of Canadian cinema and of new and emerging Canadian filmmakers has always been an integral aspect of TIFF’s mandate and serves as one of our core objectives as an organization,” Handling said. “We have been looking at ways to further accomplish these objectives with an eye to ensuring that we continue to support our goal in our new position as a year-round fully integrated organization. As a result, we have restructured the Canadian Initiatives team.

“Karen has served as a superb ambassador and champion for the Canadian film industry,” he continued. “Her exceptional relationships with the Canadian film industry helped us move many new industry programming initiatives forward in addition to identifying new opportunities to foster the growth of Canadian talent through initiatives like Talent Lab and Rising Stars. Additionally, Karen’s community outreach work through Film Circuit has enabled us to meet our mandate across the country and she has set the stage for many exciting things to come. We thank her for her leadership and her many years of hard work and commitment to TIFF and to the industry as a whole.”

This year, she worked with Playback steadily throughout the festival, keeping readers up to date on Canadian happenings at the international fest.

Bruce will leave TIFF as of Dec. 16. No word yet on where she will head next.