The 10th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto

This year's 10th Annual ACTRA Awards will mark a decade of performers recognizing outstanding achievements among their own. The ACTRA Awards celebrate outstanding lead and supporting performances by ACTRA Toronto members.

Submissions have now been finalized! During the submission period, any member in good standing (Full, Apprentice, ACTRA Additional Background) could submit any member's work for Awards consideration using a simple online form in one of these three categories:

• Outstanding Performance – Male
• Outstanding Performance – Female
• Outstanding Performance – Voice

Awards Presentation

The Awards presentation and celebration is organized by an Awards Committee made up of ACTRA Toronto members with the support of dedicated volunteers and ACTRA Toronto staff. The Awards celebration will be held Saturday, February 25th, 2012 and all Toronto members in good standing are invited to attend.

Award of Excellence Recipient: Rick Mercer

“Rick Mercer’s talents as a comedian, political satirist, actor and writer are, quite simply, astounding,” said Heather Allin, President of ACTRA Toronto, “and his creative accomplishments are amplified by his charitable work and activism on behalf of performers and Canadian culture. We are proud to honour Rick.” 

Mercer burst onto the Toronto scene in the early ‘90s with his successful one-man stage shows followed up on television with This Hour has 22 Minutes, Made in Canada, and Talking to Americans. His reach has grown to weekly audiences of over a million on CBC’s Rick Mercer Report. Along the way, he has garnered over 25 Gemini Awards, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2004, 7 Canadian Comedy Awards, 3 Writers Guild of Canada Awards and the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award. He holds honorary degrees from six universities.

His charitable work includes Spread the Net, which provides mosquito nets to children in Africa, Casey House and the Walk for Life which raises funds for people living with HIV/AIDS and It Gets Better, Canada, a video campaign to help LGBT youth overcome bullying.

For ACTRA, he has leant his wit and celebrity to the fight for Canadian culture since 2003, when he was quoted as saying, "It's hard to believe Canada could make an even bigger mess of its broadcasting system, but that's what we're about to do, if things don't change. We are surrendering the most powerful medium we have. If we don't change course right now, Canadians will be listening to and watching Americans 24 hours a day, seven days a week on every channel they can click to."