Editing Governor General's Awards (section)

{{Short description|Canadian academic, artistic, and social awards}}

The '''Governor General's Awards''' are a collection of annual [[List of awards presented by the governor general of Canada|awards presented by]] the [[governor general of Canada]], recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.

The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by [[John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir|the Lord Tweedsmuir]],{{refn|<ref>{{citation| url=http://ggawards.ca/about/| title=About the John H. Meier, Jr. Governor General's Literary Award Collection| publisher=GG Awards| accessdate=30 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/governor-generals-awards/awards-arts| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Awards in Arts| date=26 October 2017| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| accessdate=30 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://heritage.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/heritageuoft%3A43| author=Heratige UofT| title=Governor General's Literary Award| publisher=University of Toronto| accessdate=30 March 2023}}</ref>}} a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction; he created the Governor General's Literary Award with two award categories. Successive governors general have followed suit, establishing an award for whichever endeavour they personally found important. Only [[Adrienne Clarkson]] created three Governor General's Awards: the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, the Governor General's Northern Medal, and the Governor General's Medal in Architecture (though this was effectively a continuation of the Massey Medal, first established in 1950).