The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.
[1] The award was first presented in 1949 by the Canadian Film Awards under the title Film of the Year.
In some years, a Film of the Year award was not formally presented, with the highest film award presented that year being in the Theatrical Short or Amateur Film categories.
After 1970, however, the Film of the Year category was no longer used except in 1975, when due to the cancellation of the awards in 1974, it was presented alongside the Feature Film category as a de facto second Best Picture award, so that winners for both 1974 and 1975 could be named.
[2] As of 1980, the award was taken over by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and presented as part of the Genie Awards ceremony; as of 2013, it is presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.