The queer hockey drama Heated Rivalry swept the Canadian Screen Awards on Sunday, claiming 16 wins from 18 nominations — a haul that cemented its status as the country’s dominant television force and sparked a broader conversation about Canada’s history of backing stories the rest of the industry would not.
The Crave series took home Best Drama Series, Best Directing and Best Writing in a Drama Series, and Best Lead Performer for Hudson Williams, whose portrayal of professional hockey player Shane Hollander has drawn comparisons to landmark queer television. The ceremony also rewarded the CBC/Netflix comedy North of North, which earned Best Comedy Series, Best Lead Performer, Best Writing and Best Supporting Performer — nine wins total from 20 nominations.
The sweep landed days after industry figures spent the week drawing explicit parallels between Heated Rivalry and the queer Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek. Accepting a Vanguard Award at the Critics Choice Association’s annual LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television celebration in Los Angeles, Schitt’s Creek co-creator Dan Levy singled out showrunner Jacob Tierney and the series by name.
“The funny thing about this industry,” Levy said, “is that they think they know what they want, until a Schitt’s Creek or a Heated Rivalry comes along.” He argued the industry should treat such shows as evidence of a systemic funding gap rather than flukes: “We don’t need more shows like them; we need more money being invested in queer voices, because we make you money.”
Tierney was absent from both events, sending a video message to the Critics Choice ceremony where he accepted its LGBTQ+ Showrunner Award. “I’m working very hard on Season 2 to get it out to people as soon as possible,” he said. Production on the second season is expected to begin in August, after Tierney finishes writing the episodes. The season will adapt The Long Game, the second book in Rachel Reid’s source novel series, picking up with Shane and Ilya Rozanov a decade into a secret relationship. In that story, Ilya pushes to go public while Shane resists, fearing the impact on his career.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which presents the Canadian Screen Awards, is the country’s largest non-profit professional media arts organization, with a membership of more than 3,500 industry professionals. On film, the top prize went to Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, while R.T. Thorne took both Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay for 40 Acres.
