The 2nd Genie Awards were held March 12, 1981, honouring Canadian films released in 1980.
[3] The films Good Riddance (Les Bons débarras) nd Tribute tied for the most nominations overall.
[1] Les bons débarras won most of the major awards, including Best Picture.
[2] For the first time, screenings for academy members were held in western Canada, in Edmonton and Vancouver.
Later in the year the Academy of Canadian Cinema held the Bijou Awards, a one-time ceremony to honour non-feature and non-theatrical films, and to present some of the specialized categories that had been dropped from the Genies in their transition from the Canadian Film Awards.