CBC comedy Schitt’s Creek leads the television nominations for the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards with 26 nods, followed by CBC drama Anne with an E and CTV’s Cardinal.

Schitt’s Creek (Not a Real Company Productions; pictured, top) not only dominated the comedy category, it broke the Canadian Academy record for number of nominations for a series in a single year. Its nominations include Best Comedy Series, three for directing, four for writing, two for picture editing, and a total of 10 nominations for its actors.

Anne with an E (Northwood Entertainment), which was canceled by CBC and Netflix in November, earned 17 nominations for its final season, an increase of two from last year. Its nominations include Best Drama Series, two directing nods, two writing nods, two picture editing nods and two acting nods.

Cardinal (Sienna Films) followed closely behind with 14 nominations, maintaining the same number of nominations from last year. This is the first year Cardinal will compete in the Drama category, having previously competed in the Limited Series category. The category was retooled as Best TV Movie after a series of rule changes from the Academy. Its nominations include Best Drama Series, one for writing and five for acting.

The final season of Mary Kills People (Cameron Pictures) earned 11 nominations, including Best Drama Series, two writing nods, one for directing and four for acting. The other Best Drama Series contenders are Vikings (Take 5 Productions), which earned eight nominations (including two for directing, two for picture editing), and CBC’s new series Coroner (Muse Entertainment, Back Alley Films, Cineflix Studios), coming in at five nominations (including nods for lead actor and actress).

Best Comedy nominee Letterkenny (New Metric Media; pictured, right) came in with 10 nominations, up two from last year, including one nod apiece for writing and directing, two for picture editing and three for acting. Kim’s Convenience (Thunderbird Entertainment), which is back in the Best Comedy category after a one-year absence, earned eight nominations, including five acting nods.

Rounding out the Best Comedy nominees are Workin’ Moms (Wolf + Rabbit Entertainment) at five nominations (directing, photography and two guest performance nods) and Jann (Project 10) with three nominations (for lead actress and guest performance).

Other notable scripted series that earned nominations include Killjoys (Temple Street), which earned five nominations, including two supporting actor nods, Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury) with three, CTV Drama’s Carter (Amaze Film + Television), Super Channel and OUTtv’s Forgive Me (Penitent Pictures) and CBC’s Burden of Truth (ICF Films) and Diggstown (Blue Circle Films), with two nominations each.

Sketch comedies Baroness Von Sketch Show (Frantic Films) and The Beaverton (Pier 21 Films) both earned five nominations each, including Best Sketch Show and Performance Ensemble. The series are up against CBC’s new sketch show TallBoyz (Accent Entertainment) and This Hour Has 22 Minutes (DHX-Hour Productions). Corner Gas Animated (Moving Mountoons) earned six nominations total, including Best Animated Program, competing against Cupcake & Dino: General Services (Entertainment One), Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood (9 Story Media Group), Total Dramarama (Fresh TV) and Wild Kratts (9 Story Media Group).

Holly Hobbie (Aircraft Pictures; pictured, left) was the most nominated series in the scripted children’s and pre-school categories with eight nominations, including Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series, two nods a-piece for writing and directing and three for acting. It’s nominated alongside Backstage (Backstage Productions), Big Top Academy (Apartment 11 Productions) and Creeped Out (DHX Media).

Meanwhile, Dino Dana (Sinking Ship Entertainment) earned five nominations for Best Pre-School Program or Series, writing, directing, VFX and acting. The series is competing in its top category alongside Abby Hatcher (Spin Master), PAW Patrol (Spin Master), True and the Rainbow Kingdom (Guru Studio) and Rusty Rivets (Spin Master).

Nominees in the new Best TV Movie category are #Roxy (Mosaic Entertainment), Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey (Cineflix), Claws of the Red Dragon (China’s Truth) (New Realm Studios), Daughter of the Wolf (Minds Eye Entertainment) and Nowhere To Be Found (Nowhere To Be Found Productions).

On the unscripted front, The Amazing Race Canada (Insight Productions) pulled in eight nominations, including Best Reality/Competition Program or Series. It’s nominated alongside Big Brother Canada (Insight Productions), Blown Away (marblemedia), The Great Canadian Baking Show (Proper Television) and Top Chef Canada (Insight Productions).

The top nominated lifestyle series is Island of Bryan (Si Entertainment; pictured, right) with four, including Best Lifestyle Program or Series. It’s nominated alongside Home to Win (Architect Films), Mary’s Kitchen Crush (Proper Television), Property Brothers (Cineflix) and Where to I Do? (Bell Media Studios).

APTN’s First Contact (Animiki See Digital Production) and AMI’s Employable Me (Thomas Howe Associates) pulled in two nominations each, including Best Factual Series. Fellow nominees are Disasters at Sea (Exploration Production), It Happened Here (Buck Productions) and Paramedics: Life on the Line (Lark Productions). Factual series Still Standing (Frantic Films) earned six nominations, with categories including directing, writing and best host or presenter.

How to Buy a Baby, Save Me, Tokens top digital noms

The 410 (Mud Ruk Entertainment), Ming’s Dynasty (HeydSaffer), Save Me (iThentic), Detention Adventure and How to Buy a Baby (both from LoCo Motion Pictures) will compete for the best web series fiction prize at the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards.

On the non-fiction front, Art Hurts (CBC Arts), Canada’s a Drag (CBC Arts), Canadiana (Unlikely Pear Productions), Fast Horse (Handful of Films), Painkillers: Inside the Opioid Crisis (Spotlight Productions) and True Dating Stories (LaRue Entertainment) are vying for the best web series prize.

LoCo Motion Pictures’ How to Buy a Baby emerged as the most-nominated digital project with six in total, closely followed by Save Me with five and Tokens (A Token Entertainment Company) with four.

Best director nominations went to Adriana Maggs (How to Buy a Baby), Sheona McDonald (A Short Essay on Men), Winnifred Jong (Tokens), Allison John (True Dating Stories) and Jonathan Torrens (Your Two Cents).

Meanwhile, competing for the best writing in a web series prize are Supinder Wraich (The 410), Karen Moore (Detention Adventure), Wendy Litner (How to Buy a Baby), Fab Filippo (Save Me) and Jong (Tokens).

The best immersive experience (non-fiction) category promises to be a closely fought race between Anthropocene VR (Mercury Films), Dino Quest (Sinking Ship Interactive), Traveling While Black (Felix & Paul Studios) and They Should be Flowers (Smallaxx). Felix & Paul Studios are also nominated in the immersive experience (fiction) category for Gymnasia, alongside Glacial Reality (Studio Element) and Afterlife (Signal Space Lab).

In the acting categories the nominees for best lead performance are Michelle Morgan (Deep Six), Wraich (The 410), Sara Canning (Hospital Show), Marc Bendavid (How to Buy a Baby), Amy Matysio (Running With Violet), Emily Hampshire (Save Me), Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (Save Me) and Connie Wang (Tokens).

Best supporting actor nominations went to Adam Greydon Reid (Hospital Show), Emma Hunter (How to Buy a Baby), Fernandez-Stoll (How to Buy a Baby), Julian De Zotti (Ming’s Dynasty), Andrea Bang (Running With Violet), Amy Matysio (Save Me), Julian Richings (Talent Drivers) and Jessica Greco (Tokens).

Elsewhere in the digital media categories, best video game narrative nominations went to the National Film Board’s East of the Rockies and a pair of projects from Compulsion Games, Lightbearer and Roger & James in They Came From Below.

A selection of nominations are listed below. The full list of nominations are available on the Canadian Academy website. The winners will be announced during Canadian Screen Week, beginning on March 23 and ending with the televised Canadian Screen Awards ceremony on March 29.

Best Drama Series

Anne with an E (Northwood Entertainment)
Cardinal (Sienna Films)
Coroner (Muse Entertainment, Back Alley Films, Cineflix Studios)
Mary Kills People (Cameron Pictures)
Vikings (Take 5 Productions)

Best Comedy Series

Jann (Project 10)
Kim’s Convenience (Thunderbird Entertainment)
Letterkenny (New Metric Media)
Schitt’s Creek (Not a Real Company Productions)
Workin’ Moms (Wolf + Rabbit Entertainment)

Best TV Movie

#Roxy (Mosaic Entertainment)
Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey (Cineflix)
Claws of the Red Dragon (China’s Truth) (New Realm Studios)
Daughter of the Wolf (Minds Eye Entertainment)
Nowhere To Be Found (Nowhere To Be Found Productions)

Best Reality/Competition Program or Series

Amazing Race Canada (Insight Productions)
Big Brother Canada (Insight Productions)
Blown Away (marblemedia)
The Great Canadian Baking Show (Proper Television)
Top Chef Canada (Insight Productions)

Best Sketch Show and Performance Ensemble

Baroness Von Sketch Show (Frantic Films)
The Beaverton (Pier 21 Films)
TallBoyz (Accent Entertainment)
This Hour Has 22 Minutes (DHX-Hour Productions)

Best Lifestyle Program or Series

Home to Win (Architect Films)
Island of Bryan (Si Entertainment)
Mary’s Kitchen Crush (Proper Television)
Property Brothers (Cineflix)
Where to I Do? (Bell Media Studios)

Best Animated Program or Series

Corner Gas Animated (Moving Mountoons)
Cupcake & Dino: General Services (Entertainment One)
Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood (9 Story Media Group)
Total Dramarama (Fresh TV)
Wild Kratts (9 Story Media Group)

Best Pre-School Program or Series

Abby Hatcher (Spin Master)
Dino Dana (Sinking Ship Entertainment)
PAW Patrol (Spin Master)
Rusty Rivets (Spin Master)
True and the Rainbow Kingdom (Guru Studio)

Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series

Backstage (Backstage Productions)
Big Top Academy (Apartment 11 Productions)
Creeped Out (DHX Media)
Holly Hobbie (Aircraft Pictures)

Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series

It’s My Party! (Bristow Global Media)
Just Like Mom and Dad (marblemedia)
Raven’s Quest (Apartment 11 Productions)
Super Mighty Makers (marblemedia)

Best Factual Series

Disasters at Sea (Exploration Production)
Employable Me (Thomas Howe Associates)
First Contact (Animiki See Digital Production)
It Happened Here (Buck Productions)
Paramedics: Life on the Line (Lark Productions)

Best Direction, Drama

Anne with an E
“A Secret Which I Desired to Divine”
Anne Wheeler

Anne with an E
“Great and Sudden Change”
Amanda Tapping

Mary Kills People
“The Key to Faith”
Norma Bailey

Vikings
“Baldur”
Helen Shaver

Vikings
“Ragnarok”
David Wellington

Best Direction, Comedy

Letterkenny
“Yew!”
Jacob Tierney

Schitt’s Creek
“The Crowening”
Laurie Lynd

Schitt’s Creek
“Life is a Cabaret”
Daniel Levy, Andrew Cividino

Schitt’s Creek
“Meet the Parents”
Jordan Canning

Workin’ Moms
“Birth Daze”
Catherine Reitman

Best Writing, Drama

Anne with an E
“A Secret Which I Desired to Divine”
Moira Walley-Beckett

Anne with an E
“There is Something at Work in my Soul Which I Do Not Understand”
Jane Maggs

Cardinal
“Mama”
Patrick Tarr, Noelle Carbone, Aaron Bala

Mary Kills People
“A Goddamned Saint”
Marsha Greene

Mary Kills People
“The Key to Faith”
Tassie Cameron

Best Writing, Comedy

Letterkenny
“Yew!”
Jared Keeso, Jacob Tierney

Schitt’s Creek
“The Hospies”
Rupinder Gill

Schitt’s Creek
“Housewarming”
Daniel Levy, Rupinder Gill

Schitt’s Creek
“Love Letters”
David West Read

Schitt’s Creek
“Meet the Parents”
Daniel Levy

Best Lead Actor, Drama

Burden of Truth
Peter Mooney

Cardinal
Billy Campbell

Carter
Jerry O’Connell

Coroner
Roger Cross

Unspeakable
Shawn Doyle

Best Lead Actress, Drama

Anne with an E
Amybeth McNulty

Cardinal
Karine Vanasse

Coroner
Serinda Swan

Frankie Drake Mysteries
Lauren Lee Smith

Mary Kills People
Caroline Dhavernas

Best Lead Actor, Comedy

Kim’s Convenience
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

Letterkenny
Jared Keeso

Private Eyes
Jason Priestley

Schitt’s Creek
Daniel Levy

Schitt’s Creek
Eugene Levy

Best Lead Actress, Comedy

Jann
Jann Arden

Kim’s Convenience
Jean Yoon

Letterkenny
Michelle Mylett

Schitt’s Creek
Annie Murphy

Schitt’s Creek
Catherine O’Hara

Best Supporting Actor, Drama

Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey
Rossif Sutherland

Daughter of the Wolf
Brendan Fehr

Diggstown
Brandon Oakes

Forgive Me
Hugh Thompson

Killjoys
Thom Allison

Best Supporting Actress, Drama

Cardinal
Kristen Thompson

Forgive Me
Karen Robinson

Killjoys
Kelly McCormack

Mary Kills People
Elizabeth Saunders

Street Legal
Rosemary Dunsmore

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy

Kim’s Convenience
Andrew Phung

Letterkenny
Mark Forward

Schitt’s Creek
Chris Elliot

Schitt’s Creek
Dustin Mulligan

Schitt’s Creek
Noah Reid

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy

Kim’s Convenience
Nicole Power

Little Dog
Mary Walsh

Schitt’s Creek
Emily Hampshire

Schitt’s Creek
Jennifer Robertson

Schitt’s Creek
Sarah Levy

Best Guest Performance, Drama

Anne with an E
“What Can Step the Determined Heart”
Dalmas Abuzeid

Cardinal
“Helen”
Stephen Ouimette

Cardinal
“Jack”
Rya Kihlstedt

Mary Kills People
“No Happy Endings Here”
Deborah Grover

Mary Kills People
“Wolf, Meet Henhouse” / “A Goddamned Saint”
David Fox

Best Guest Performance, Comedy

The Beaverton
“The Beaverton Ruins Your Holiday Special”
Scott Thompson

Jann
“Major Party Foul”
Rick Mercer

Kim’s Convenience
“Hit & Fun”
Amanda Brugel

Workin’ Moms
“Girls Trip”
Dan Aykroyd

Workin’ Moms
“What’s It Gonna Be”
Wendy Crewson