The award was presented for the next three years as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature . At the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017 , the '' ' John Dunning Discovery Award ' '' , named in memory of film producer John Dunning , was introduced to honour microbudget films . Initially it was a separate award from the Best First Feature category , with the two awards presented alongside each other to different films in 2017 and 2018
5th Canadian Screen Awards
5th Canadian Screen Awards
John Dunning Best First Feature Award