[1] It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each for creators of English- and French-language books.
The awards was created by the Canadian Authors Association in partnership with Lord Tweedsmuir in 1936.
The program was created in 1937 by the Canadian Authors Association and inaugurated that November for 1936 publications in two English-language categories, conventionally called the 1936 Governor General's Awards.
[1] The winners alone were announced until 1979, when Canada Council released in advance a shortlist of three nominees.
Some winners of this prize have also won Governor General's Literary Awards in other categories, such as Margaret Atwood (Fiction, Poetry).