The award was founded in 1970 by Roland Michener, who was Governor General of Canada at the time, and his wife Norah.
Since 1987, the Michener Foundation also awards annually the Michener-Deacon Fellowship, which provides financial support to a journalist wishing to complete a project that serves the Canadian public interest.
The fellowship is named in honor of Roland Michener and late journalist Paul Deacon.
Where multiple winners are combined in the table below, the winning work was a collaborative joint project of both news organizations.
If two distinct pieces simply finished in a tie, then each work is listed on a separate line.