The 7th Genie Awards were held on March 20, 1986, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to honour achievements in Canadian film in 1985.
[3] After years of excluding foreign members of Canadian film productions from eligibility, everyone could now compete equally.
Voters chose from a strong slate of contenders, although Phillip Borsos not receiving a nomination in the directing category for One Magic Christmas was analyzed as a snub.
[4] Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail also initially labelled the lack of a Best Documentary nomination for Donald Brittain's Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks as a snub;[5] however, as it had been distributed primarily as a television broadcast rather than in theatres, it was instead treated as a television film and received numerous nominations at the Academy's 1st Gemini Awards later the same year.
[6] The academy presented two Special Achievement awards, the first to IMAX president and co-founder Graeme Ferguson.