It was administered by the Canadian Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ).
Founded in 1978,[1] CIJ began giving the awards in 1986.
[2] The inaugural awards had just two categories: print and broadcast.
[2] The categories were refined in 1987 to be newspaper, magazine, television, and radio.
[5][6] The CAJ continued giving awards from 1991 onward under its new name.