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The Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival
The Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival was founded in 2000 by the Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence (CCFE), a non-profit organization with a mandate "to recognize and celebrate Canadian achievements in comedy at home and abroad." The CCFE is headed by actor, director and producer Tim Progosh. The award, known colloquially as "The Beaver," is given to English-speaking Canadian artists for significant achievements in live performance, television and film.
The first annual Canadian Comedy Awards gala was held in Toronto in 2000. In 2003 the gala ceremony became part of a 3-day comedy festival. The Awards & Festival have been hosted by various Canadian cities, including Toronto (2000-02, 2010- ), London (2003-07), Regina (2008) and St. John (2009). Since 2010 the celebrations have taken place in Toronto.
Awards are determined by votes from the public and industry members. Over the years, award categories have expanded to encourage public engagement and acknowledge the achievements of Canadian comedy in various media. Members of the public may vote in the 7 public voting categories for best TV show, film, web clip, web series, podcast, radio clip and Canadian comedy person of the year (the latter 3 added in 2006). All other categories are determined through votes by industry members. Three non-voting competitions, the Phil Hartman Award, the Roger Abbott Award and the Dave Broadfoot Award, recognize special achievements in comedy.
A list of past winners is available on the Canadian Comedy Awards website.
