Canada's Top Ten

Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films. The list was first introduced in 2001 as an initiative to help publicize Canadian films.

The list is determined by tabulating votes from film festival programmers and film critics across Canada. Films must have premiered, either in general theatrical release or on the film festival circuit, within the calendar year; although TIFF organizes the vote, films do not have to have been screened specifically at TIFF to be eligible.

Originally, only a single list of 10 films was released. Although both short and feature films were eligible, the list was dominated primarily by feature films. Accordingly, in 2007 TIFF expanded the program, instituting separate Top Ten lists for feature films and short films. However, both lists remain inclusive of both narrative fiction and documentary films.

Each year's list was formerly screened as a Canada's Top Ten minifestival, held in January of the following year. Prior to 2010, the films were screened at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Theatre as part of TIFF's Cinematheque Ontario program; following the opening of the TIFF Bell Lightbox in 2010, the festival was staged at that venue thereafter. For the 2014 festival, TIFF introduced a People's Choice Award for the feature film program, modeled on the existing Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award and conducted in the same manner.

In 2018, TIFF dropped the January festival, instead introducing a new model in which each film receives its own standalone theatrical run at the Lightbox in the following year. In 2024, following the death of influential Canadian film director Charles Officer in fall 2023, TIFF and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation also introduced the Charles Officer Award, to be presented at the Canada's Top Ten reception to a filmmaker whose body of work is reflective of Officer's values, artistry and vision.

Once per decade, TIFF also polls Canadian film critics and festival programmers to determine a list of the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time, separately from the annual Canada's Top Ten survey.

In a 2022 article, Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail praised the program as a diverse overview of the creative risk-taking in Canadian cinema, and a worthwhile contrast to the limited scope of conventional commercial film distribution.

2000s

Year	Feature Films	Short Films
2001	Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner — Zacharias Kunuk Ginger Snaps — John Fawcett The Heart of the World — Guy Maddin Khaled — Asghar Massombagi Last Wedding — Bruce Sweeney Marriages (Mariages) — Catherine Martin Parsley Days — Andrea Dorfman Soft Shell Man (Un crabe dans la tête) — André Turpin The Woman Who Drinks (La femme qui boit) — Bernard Émond The Uncles — James Allodi	No short film lists were released from 2001 to 2006.
2002	Ararat — Atom Egoyan Chaos and Desire (La Turbulence des fluides) — Manon Briand Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary — Guy Maddin Flower and Garnet — Keith Behrman Gambling, Gods and LSD — Peter Mettler Marion Bridge — Wiebke von Carolsfeld The Negro (Le Nèg') — Robert Morin Ocean (Océan) — Catherine Martin Spider — David Cronenberg Tom — Mike Hoolboom
2003	8:17 p.m. Darling Street (20h17 rue Darling) - Bernard Émond The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasion barbares) — Denys Arcand The Corporation — Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott Dying at Grace — Allan King Falling Angels — Scott Smith Far Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la lune) — Robert Lepage Love, Sex and Eating the Bones — Sudz Sutherland My Life Without Me — Isabel Coixet On the Corner — Nathaniel Geary The Saddest Music in the World — Guy Maddin
2004	Childstar — Don McKellar The Five of Us (Elles étaient cinq) — Ghyslaine Côté I, Claudia — Chris Abraham It's All Gone Pete Tong — Michael Dowse Ryan — Chris Landreth Saint Ralph — Michael McGowan Scared Sacred — Velcrow Ripper Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire — Peter Raymont What Remains of Us (Ce qu'il reste de nous) — François Prévost, Hugo Latulippe White Skin (La Peau blanche) — Daniel Roby
2005	C.R.A.Z.Y. — Jean-Marc Vallée Dodging the Clock (Horloge biologique) — Ricardo Trogi Familia — Louise Archambault A History of Violence — David Cronenberg The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico — Michael Mabbott Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company — Allan King The Novena (La Neuvaine) — Bernard Émond A Simple Curve — Aubrey Nealon Water — Deepa Mehta Where the Truth Lies — Atom Egoyan
2006	Away from Her — Sarah Polley Congorama — Philippe Falardeau The Journals of Knud Rasmussen — Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn Manufactured Landscapes — Jennifer Baichwal Monkey Warfare — Reginald Harkema On the Trail of Igor Rizzi (Sur la trace d'Igor Rizzi) — Noël Mitrani Radiant City — Gary Burns, Jim Brown Sharkwater — Rob Stewart A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) — Robert Favreau Trailer Park Boys: The Movie — Mike Clattenburg
2007	Amal — Richie Mehta Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil) — Stéphane Lafleur Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) — Denys Arcand Eastern Promises — David Cronenberg Fugitive Pieces — Jeremy Podeswa My Winnipeg — Guy Maddin A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman — Peter Raymont The Tracey Fragments — Bruce McDonald Up the Yangtze — Yung Chang Young People Fucking — Martin Gero	Code 13 — Mathieu Denis The Colony — Jeff Barnaby Dust Bowl Ha! Ha! — Sébastien Pilote Farmer's Requiem — Ramses Madina I Have Seen the Future — Cam Christiansen I Met the Walrus — Josh Raskin Madame Tutli-Putli — Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski Pool — Chris Chong Chan Fui The Schoolyard (Les Grands) — Chloé Leriche Terminus — Trevor Cawood
2008	Adoration — Atom Egoyan Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain) — Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu Fifty Dead Men Walking — Kari Skogland Heaven on Earth — Deepa Mehta It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure) — Philippe Falardeau Lost Song — Rodrigue Jean Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's (Maman est chez le coiffeur) — Léa Pool The Memories of Angels (La Memoire des anges) — Luc Bourdon The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) — Benoît Pilon Pontypool — Bruce McDonald	Beyond the Walls (La Battue) — Guy Édoin Block B — Chris Chong Chan Fui Drux Flux — Theodore Ushev Ghosts and Gravel Roads — Mike Rollo Green Door — Semi Chellas My Name Is Victor Gazon (Mon nom est Victor Gazon) — Patrick Gazé Next Floor — Denis Villeneuve Nikamowin (Song) — Kevin Lee Burton Passages — Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre Princess Margaret Blvd. — Kazik Radwanski
2009	Cairo Time — Ruba Nadda Carcasses — Denis Côté Crackie — Sherry White Defendor — Peter Stebbings I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) — Xavier Dolan The Legacy (La Donation) — Bernard Émond Passenger Side — Matt Bissonnette Polytechnique — Denis Villeneuve The Trotsky — Jacob Tierney The Wild Hunt — Alexandre Franchi	The Armoire — Jamie Travis The Cave — Helen Haig-Brown Danse Macabre — Pedro Pires Five Hole: Tales of Hockey Erotica — Cam Christiansen Life Begins (La Vie commence) — Émile Proulx-Cloutier Naissances — Anne Émond Out in That Deep Blue Sea — Kazik Radwanski Runaway — Cordell Barker The Spine — Chris Landreth Vive la rose — Bruce Alcock

2010s

Films which won the People's Choice Award are bolded and marked with a †.

Year	Feature Films	Short Films
2010	Barney's Version — Richard J. Lewis Curling — Denis Côté Heartbeats (Les Amours imaginaires) — Xavier Dolan The High Cost of Living — Deborah Chow Incendies — Denis Villeneuve Last Train Home — Lixin Fan Modra — Ingrid Veninger Mourning for Anna (Trois temps après la mort d'Anna) — Catherine Martin Splice — Vincenzo Natali Trigger — Bruce McDonald	Above the Knee — Greg Atkins I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors — Ann Marie Fleming The Legend of Beaver Dam — Jerome Sable Lipsett Diaries — Theodore Ushev Little Flowers (Les Fleurs de l'âge) — Vincent Biron The Little White Cloud That Cried — Guy Maddin Marius Borodine — Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais Mokhtar — Halima Ouardiri On the Way to the Sea — Tao Gu Vapor — Kaveh Nabatian
2011	Café de Flore — Jean-Marc Vallée Citizen Gangster — Nathan Morlando A Dangerous Method — David Cronenberg Hobo With a Shotgun — Jason Eisener Keyhole — Guy Maddin Monsieur Lazhar — Philippe Falardeau The Salesman (Le Vendeur) — Sébastien Pilote Starbuck — Ken Scott Take This Waltz — Sarah Polley Wetlands (Marécages) — Guy Édoin	Choke — Michelle Latimer Doubles with Slight Pepper — Ian Harnarine The Fuse: Or How I Burned Simon Bolivar — Igor Drljaca Hope — Pedro Pires No Words Came Down — Ryan Flowers, Lisa Pham Ora — Philippe Baylaucq Rhonda's Party — Ashley McKenzie La Ronde — Sophie Goyette Trotteur — Arnaud Brisebois, Francis Leclerc We Ate the Children Last — Andrew Cividino
2012	Cosmopolis — David Cronenberg The End of Time — Peter Mettler Goon — Michael Dowse Laurence Anyways — Xavier Dolan Midnight's Children — Deepa Mehta My Awkward Sexual Adventure — Sean Garrity Still Mine — Michael McGowan Stories We Tell — Sarah Polley War Witch (Rebelle) — Kim Nguyen The World Before Her — Nisha Pahuja	Bydlo — Patrick Bouchard Crackin' Down Hard — Mike Clattenburg Herd Leader (Chef de meute) — Chloé Robichaud Kaspar — Diane Obomsawin Keep a Modest Head (Ne crâne pas sois modeste) — Deco Dawson Lingo — Bahar Noorizadeh Malody — Phillip Barker Old Growth — Tess Girard Reflexions — Martin Thibaudeau Wintergreen (Paparmane) — Joëlle Desjardins Paquette
2013	Asphalt Watches — Shayne Ehman, Seth Scriver Enemy — Denis Villeneuve The F Word — Michael Dowse Gabrielle — Louise Archambault Rhymes for Young Ghouls — Jeff Barnaby Sarah Prefers to Run (Sarah préfère la course) — Chloé Robichaud Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) — Xavier Dolan Vic and Flo Saw a Bear (Vic et Flo ont vu un ours) — Denis Côté Watermark — Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky When Jews Were Funny — Alan Zweig	A Grand Canal — Johnny Ma The Chaperone 3D — Fraser Munden, Neil Rathbone The End of Pinky — Claire Blanchet An Extraordinary Person (Quelqu'un d'extraordinaire) — Monia Chokri In Guns We Trust — Nicolas Lévesque Noah — Walter Woodman, Patrick Cederberg Paradise Falls — Fantavious Fritz Subconscious Password — Chris Landreth Time Flies (Nous avions) — Stéphane Moukarzel Yellowhead — Kevan Funk
2014	Corbo — Mathieu Denis Felix and Meira — Maxime Giroux In Her Place — Albert Shin Maps to the Stars — David Cronenberg Mommy — Xavier Dolan Monsoon — Sturla Gunnarsson † The Price We Pay — Harold Crooks Sol — Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Susan Avingaq Violent — Andrew Huculiak You're Sleeping Nicole (Tu dors Nicole) — Stéphane Lafleur	Bison — Kevan Funk The Cut (La Coupe) — Geneviève Dulude-De Celles Cutaway — Kazik Radwanski Day 40 — Sol Friedman Kajutaijuq: The Spirit That Comes — Scott Brachmayer Mynarski Death Plummet — Matthew Rankin Rebel (Bihttoš) — Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Sleeping Giant — Andrew Cividino Still — Slater Jewell-Kemker The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer — Randall Okita
2015	Closet Monster — Stephen Dunn The Demons (Les Démons) — Philippe Lesage The Forbidden Room — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson Guantanamo's Child: Omar Khadr — Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard Hurt — Alan Zweig Into the Forest — Patricia Rozema My Internship in Canada (Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre) — Philippe Falardeau † Ninth Floor — Mina Shum Our Loved Ones (Les êtres chers) — Anne Émond Sleeping Giant — Andrew Cividino	Bacon and God's Wrath — Sol Friedman Balmoral Hotel — Wayne Wapeemukwa Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Interview with a Free Man (Entrevue avec un homme libre) — Nicolas Lévesque The Little Deputy — Trevor Anderson My Enemy, My Brother — Ann Shin Never Steady, Never Still — Kathleen Hepburn Nina — Halima Elkhatabi O Negative — Steven McCarthy Overpass (Viaduc) — Patrice Laliberté
2016	Angry Inuk — Alethea Arnaquq-Baril † Hello Destroyer — Kevan Funk It's Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) — Xavier Dolan Mean Dreams — Nathan Morlando Nelly — Anne Émond Old Stone — Johnny Ma Searchers (Maliglutit) — Zacharias Kunuk, Natar Ungalaaq Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau) — Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie Werewolf — Ashley McKenzie Window Horses — Ann Marie Fleming	Blind Vaysha — Theodore Ushev Emma — Martin Edralin Fish — Heather Young Fluffy — Lee Filipovski Frame 394 — Rich Williamson A Funeral for Lightning — Emily Kai Bock Her Friend Adam — Ben Petrie Mariner — Thyrone Tommy Mutants — Alexandre Dostie Snip — Terril Calder
2017	Adventures in Public School — Kyle Rideout Allure — Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez Ava — Sadaf Foroughi The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes) — Simon Lavoie Luk'Luk'I — Wayne Wapeemukwa Never Steady, Never Still — Kathleen Hepburn Our People Will Be Healed — Alanis Obomsawin Ravenous (Les Affamés) — Robin Aubert Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World — Alfonso Maiorana, Catherine Bainbridge Unarmed Verses — Charles Officer †	The Argument (with annotations) — Daniel Cockburn The Botanist — Maude Plante-Husaruk, Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis The Crying Conch — Vincent Toi The Drop In — Naledi Jackson Flood — Amanda Strong Milk — Heather Young Pre-Drink — Marc-Antoine Lemire Rupture — Yassmina Karajah The Tesla World Light — Matthew Rankin Threads — Torill Kove
2018	Anthropocene: The Human Epoch — Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky Edge of the Knife — Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown Firecrackers — Jasmin Mozaffari The Fireflies Are Gone (La disparition des lucioles) — Sébastien Pilote Freaks — Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein Genesis (Genèse) — Philippe Lesage Giant Little Ones — Keith Behrman Mouthpiece — Patricia Rozema Roads in February (Les routes en février) — Katherine Jerkovic What Walaa Wants — Christy Garland	Accidence — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson Altiplano — Malena Szlam Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) — Amanda Strong Brotherhood (Ikhwène) — Meryam Joobeur Fauve — Jérémy Comte Little Waves (Les petites vagues) — Ariane Louis-Seize My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes — Charlie Tyrell Paseo — Matthew Hannam The Subject (Le sujet) — Patrick Bouchard Veslemøy's Song — Sofia Bohdanowicz
2019	And the Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux) — Louise Archambault Anne at 13,000 Ft. — Kazik Radwanski Antigone — Sophie Deraspe Black Conflux — Nicole Dorsey The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open — Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn Matthias & Maxime — Xavier Dolan Murmur — Heather Young One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk — Zacharias Kunuk The Twentieth Century — Matthew Rankin White Lie — Calvin Thomas, Yonah Lewis	Acadiana — Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin Cityscape — Michael Snow Delphine — Chloé Robichaud Docking — Trevor Anderson I Am in the World as Free and Slender as a Deer on a Plain — Sofia Banzhaf Jarvik — Émilie Mannering No Crying at the Dinner Table — Carol Nguyen The Physics of Sorrow — Theodore Ushev Please Speak Continuously and Describe Your Experiences as They Come to You — Brandon Cronenberg Throat Singing in Kangirsuk (Katatjatuuk Kangirsumi) — Eva Kaukai, Manon Chamberland

2020s

Year	Feature Films	Short Films
2020	Beans — Tracey Deer Fauna — Nicolás Pereda Funny Boy — Deepa Mehta Inconvenient Indian — Michelle Latimer Judy Versus Capitalism — Mike Hoolboom The Kid Detective — Evan Morgan Nadia, Butterfly — Pascal Plante The Nest — Sean Durkin No Ordinary Man — Chase Joynt, Aisling Chin-Yee Possessor — Brandon Cronenberg	Aniksha — Vincent Toi The Archivists — Igor Drljaca Benjamin, Benny, Ben — Paul Shkordoff Black Bodies — Kelly Fyffe-Marshall êmîcêtôcêt: Many Bloodlines — Theola Ross Foam (Écume) — Omar Elhamy How to Be At Home — Andrea Dorfman Scars — Alex Anna Sing Me a Lullaby — Tiffany Hsiung Stump the Guesser — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
2021	All My Puny Sorrows — Michael McGowan Charlotte — Eric Warin, Tahir Rana Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) — Ivan Grbovic Learn to Swim — Thyrone Tommy Night Raiders — Danis Goulet Maria Chapdelaine — Sébastien Pilote Scarborough — Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson Ste. Anne — Rhayne Vermette Subjects of Desire — Jennifer Holness The White Fortress — Igor Drljača	Ain't No Time for Women (Y'a pas d'heure pour les femmes) — Sarra El Abed Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice — Zacharias Kunuk Boobs (Lolos) — Marie Valade Defund — Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Araya Mengesha Fanmi — Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, Carmine Pierre-Dufour Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair — Alanis Obomsawin Like the Ones I Used to Know (Les grandes claques) — Annie St-Pierre Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics — Terril Calder The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night — Fawzia Mirza Together — Albert Shin
2022	Black Ice — Hubert Davis Brother — Clement Virgo Crimes of the Future — David Cronenberg I Like Movies — Chandler Levack Riceboy Sleeps — Anthony Shim Rosie — Gail Maurice Something You Said Last Night — Luis De Filippis This House (Cette maison) — Miryam Charles To Kill a Tiger — Nisha Pahuja Viking — Stéphane Lafleur	Belle River — Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin Bill Reid Remembers — Alanis Obomsawin The Flying Sailor — Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis Lay Me by the Shore — David Findlay Municipal Relaxation Module — Matthew Rankin Nanitic — Carol Nguyen No Ghost in the Morgue — Marilyn Cooke Same Old — Lloyd Lee Choi Simo — Aziz Zoromba Violet Gave Willingly — Claire Sanford
2023	BlackBerry — Matt Johnson Hey, Viktor! — Cody Lightning Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) — Ariane Louis-Seize Kanaval — Henri Pardo The Queen of My Dreams — Fawzia Mirza Seagrass — Meredith Hama-Brown Seven Veils — Atom Egoyan Solo — Sophie Dupuis Someone Lives Here — Zack Russell Tautuktavuk (What We See) — Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk	Gaby's Hills (Gaby les collines) — Zoé Pelchat I Used to Live There — Ryan McKenna Katshinau (Les Mains sales) — Julien G. Marcotte, Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush Lake Baikal (Baigal Nuur) — Alisi Telengut Madeleine — Raquel Sancinetti Making Babies (Faire un enfant) — Éric K. Boulianne Motherland — Jasmin Mozaffari Mothers and Monsters — Édith Jorisch Sawo Matang — Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie — Nicole Bazuin