The Landsberg Award
ABOUT THE LANDSBERG AWARD
The annual Landsberg award celebrates a journalist who is raising awareness about gender equality and justice issues in Canada and seeks to inspire an increase in feminist media coverage and voices of women in Canada.
The award is named after Michele Landsberg—an award-winning Canadian journalist, author, social activist and feminist—to acknowledge the tremendous impact that she has had as an advocate and role model for all women in Canada. The award will inspire relentless and fearless journalists to consider Canadian news from a women’s equality perspective.
ABOUT MICHELE LANDSBERG
Articulate, tenacious, progressive and persuasive, award-winning former Toronto Star columnist Michele Landsberg is one of Canada’s best-known feminists and social justice activists. A fearless advocate for women and children over many decades, she uses words, in print and in person, to fight injustice, to attack oppressive power structures and policies, and to champion the cause of human rights, race and gender equality, peace and pluralism. Through her columns, she gave a strong public voice to many of those who would otherwise not be heard.
DEFINITION OF THE AWARD
This award will recognize a working journalist (employed or freelance) doing exceptional research, analysis and writing through a gender lens about women’s equality issues in Canada.
FORM OF THE AWARD
The award recipient will receive a $5,000 prize.
ELIGIBILITY
Awarded to a working journalist (employed or freelance) who has done the most to shine a spotlight on women’s equality issues in Canada in print, broadcast or online news reporting in 2024. Entries involving more than one contributor are welcome and will be judged as a single submission. Submissions are welcome in the following formats: article, column, online piece, editorial, op-ed, radio program, podcast, television program or documentary film.
Judging Methodology
The judging panel is comprised of four to eight jurors who review all submitted entries through an online portal, rank the entries and then attend a face-to-face meeting or participate via conference call with their rankings to agree on the recipient–and finalists, if applicable–of the award. The shortlist will be announced in April, with the winner announced at the CJF Awards ceremony in June 2025.
Applications for 2026 are open. The deadline for submissions is January 23, 2026, 11:59 pm ET.
2025 The Landsberg Award Winner
Jana Pruden and Kasia Mychajlowycz, The Globe and Mail
PAST WINNERS
2025
– Jana Pruden and Kasia Mychajlowycz, for In Her Defence: 50th Street podcast series, for The Globe and Mail, about the life and still-unsolved death of Indigenous woman Amber Tuccaro.
2024
– Lindsay Jones for articles in The Walrus, WIRED and The Globe and Mail that examined sexual violence against women and exposed systemic bias in policing and the courts.
2023
– Molly Hayes, Tavia Grant and Elizabeth Renzetti for a Globe and Mail series examining intimate partner violence and bringing coercive control into the broader public consciousness, revealing complex social challenges but also viable solutions.
2022
– Christina Frangou for her independent character-driven stories in Chatelaine, Toronto Life and Reader’s Digest revealing discrimination in Canada’s medical and legal systems.
2021
– Alyshah Hasham and Wendy Gillis, longtime courts and crime reporters for the Toronto Star, were joint recipients of the 2021 Landsberg Award in recognition of their stories addressing women’s experiences of male violence—including police workplace sexual harassment—and exploring potential solutions.
2020
– Elizabeth Renzetti, columnist and feature writer with The Globe and Mail, for exploring issues such as biased design in space, the lack of female political leaders and why ideologically-motivated killing of women isn’t treated as terrorism.
2019
– Connie Walker, investigative reporter and host of Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo, the CBC News podcast, for her work exploring the story behind the true-crime mystery of the death of a Cree girl named Cleo Semaganis.
2018
– Robyn Doolittle, investigative reporter with The Globe and Mail, for her “Unfounded” series exposing a pattern of mishandling sexual assault cases by police across the country.
2017
– Tavia Grant, reporter with The Globe and Mail, who explored the trafficking of Indigenous women as well as the ongoing gender pay gap.
>> Read about the recipient
2016
– Radio-Canada Enquête duo of journalist Josée Dupuis and producer/director Emmanuel Marchand, who found Indigenous women who were willing to talk about the racism, sexism, and sexual and physical abuse that they suffered at the hands of the police in the northern Quebec town of Val-d’Or
– Catherine Porter, a social justice columnist and feature writer with the Toronto Star, was recognized for a selection of her work as a columnist exploring systemic issues and delving into controversial topics
>> Read about the recipients
2015
– Heather Mallick, staff columnist with the Toronto Star, on exploring the legal framework surrounding prostitution in other countries during Canada’s debate over laws governing the sex trade
>> Read about the recipient
2014
– Janet McFarland, business reporter with The Globe and Mail, on gender inequality on corporate boards
>> Read about the recipient
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