The 11th annual Genie Awards were presented March 20, 1990, and honoured Canadian films released in 1989. For this year, CTV had negotiated to serve as broadcaster and the academy formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, ACCTV Productions, to independently produce its show. In the months leading up to the event, CTV extensively promoted the awards, and broadcaster Brian Linehan and a film crew traveled to Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, shooting vignettes about Canadian films and filmmaking. The ceremony was broadcast from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. There was no overall host, but actor Al Waxman introduced and concluded the show. Linehan hosted his vignettes and each Best Picture nominees was given a two-minute clip. The awards were dominated by Denys Arcand's Jésus de Montréal, which won 13 of the 16 awards for which it was nominated. However, CTV failed to persuade its regional affiliate stations to broadcast the ceremony. Ratings plummeted, with only half as many people (460,000) watching, compared to the previous year. This prompted a complete re-evaluation and restructuring of the Genie Awards.

Award winners and nominees