[2] They are organized in part as a fundraiser, with proceeds from audience ticket sales used to help fund various TIFF programs and initiatives.
[3] At both the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada the Tribute Awards were conducted as partially prerecorded television broadcasts rather than live gala ceremonies.
A sixth award, the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, was introduced in 2022 for women who have made outstanding contributions to improving the conditions of other women in the film industry; actress Michelle Yeoh was the inaugural recipient.
[6] An additional Special Tribute award may be presented at the TIFF board's discretion, to honour a person for distinguished achievements in other fields not covered by one of the main categories; it has been most commonly presented to a musician with significant film soundtrack credits who was the subject of a retrospective documentary film screening at that year's festival.
[8] In 2024, TIFF also announced the creation of an honorary chair position for the Tribute Awards program.