The late producer Paul Pope, actor-writer-director-producer Jennifer Podemski and Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara are among this year’s Special Awards recipients from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy).

Organizers revealed a total of nine honourees on Wednesday (Jan. 18), with others including actors Ryan Reynolds, Simu Liu, and Peter MacNeill; Citytv Cityline host Tracy Moore; and TV news journalists Lisa LaFlamme and Pierre Bruneau.

The recipients will be recognized during Canadian Screen Week, which kicks off in Toronto on April 11 and ends with the Canadian Screen Awards on April 16.

The Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute is being given posthumously to Pope (pictured top left), the St. John’s-based president of Pope Productions who died last April and was a champion for the film and TV industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, where he worked on series including Citytv hit Hudson & Rex and films including the Sturla Gunnarsson-directed Rare Birds.

Podemski (pictured top right), the Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi founder and CEO of web-based media platform The Shine Network, is also getting the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute. The honour goes to a Canadian individual for their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry. Podemski’s TV career spans more than 30 years, with on-screen credits including Reservation Dogs, Dance Me Outside, The Rez, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Blackstone, Empire of Dirt, and Departure.

O’Hara (pictured right) is the recipient of the Academy Icon Award, which honours “a Canadian individual or institution for their exceptional, ongoing contribution to the media industry at home or abroad,” according to a news release.

The actor-writer-comedian has been nominated for a slew of Primetime Emmys and won two — one for her leading role in CBC and Pop TV comedy Schitt’s Creek, and another for writing on iconic Canadian sketch series SCTV Network.

The Humanitarian Award, which recognizes “an extraordinary humanitarian contribution or act of compassion by a professional working in the Canadian media industry,” is going to Deadpool star Reynolds (pictured left) for his charitable donations.

The actor-producer-screenwriter-entrepreneur also holds an annual “aesthetically challenged” sweater holiday campaign to raise money for The Hospital for Sick Children, and is co-founder of two organizations offering underrepresented communities more access to creative careers: the Group Effort Initiative (GEI) and Creative Ladder.

Another fellow Marvel star, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings lead Liu (pictured right), is getting the Radius Award, presented by MADE | NOUS.

The honour recognizes a Canadian whose work is making waves globally, and Liu has certainly done that as Marvel’s first big screen Asian-American superhero in Shang-Chi. He’s also known for his starring role in CBC comedy series Kim’s Convenience.

MacNeill (pictured left) is being recognized for his body of acting work with the Earle Grey Award, presented by eOne.

The film and TV star’s credits include Thom Fitzgerald’s The Hanging Garden, for which he won the 1997 Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor, HBO Canada series Call Me Fitz, and his current role in CBC series Moonshine.

Moore (pictured right) is getting the Changemaker Award, which goes to those the media community “who are using their voice or platform to call out systemic racism and discrimination, supporting and amplifying the voices of those who are actively engaged in anti-racist work, and seeking structural transformations in media, film, and television in Canada that promote values of equity and inclusion.”

Moore has done so through the Cityline Real on Race YouTube series and podcast, as coproducer and co-host of Citytv’s special Ending Racism: What Will it Take?, and as a supporter of Cityline‘s first scholarship for BIPOC women.

LaFlamme (pictured left), a former CTV News anchor, has landed the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism for her more than 30-year career reporting on some of the biggest news events.

Bruneau (pictured right) has been tapped for the Lifetime Achievement Award, “honouring a Canadian individual for an exceptional lifetime of work that has had a profound impact on the media industry at home or abroad.”

The longtime TVA anchor has covered scores of elections and hosted nearly a dozen leaders’ debates.

Nominations for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards will be announced on Feb. 22.

Jennifer Podemski photo credit: Doug Bedard; Ryan Reynolds photo credit: Guy Aroch; Simu Liu photo credit: Evaan Khera; Tracy Moore photo credit: Carlyle Routh; Lisa LaFlamme photo credit: George Pimentel; Pierre Bruneau photo credit: Eric Myre