The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in the previous year. The award is presented during May in the year following publication.
Originally, the awards were named for Arthur Ellis, the pseudonym of several of Canada's official hangmen, the first and most famous being Arthur B. English. The award statuette was designed by actor and theatre designer Peter Blais.[1]
In 2021 the Crime Writers of Canada announced that they were retiring Arthur Ellis's name from the awards, renaming them to their current name.[2]