Album of the Year

• Loverboy - Get Lucky Lyrics
• Aldo Nova - Aldo Nova
• Anne Murray - Christmas Wishes
• Headpins - Turn It Loud
• Rush - Signals Lyrics

Best Album Graphics

• Anvil - Metal on Metal
• Harlequin - One False Move
• Raffi - Rise and Shine
• Rush - Signals Lyrics
• Streetheart - Streetheart

Best Children's Album

• Bob Schneider - When You Dream a Dream
• Chris & Ken Whiteley - Junior Jug Band
• Ernie Coombs, Terry McManus - Wake Up Mr. Dress Up!
• Jim & Rosalie - Jim & Rosalie...At The Music Factory
• Valdy - Valdy's Kid's Record

Best Classical Album of the Year

• Glenn Gould - Bach: The Goldenberg Variations
• Glenn Gould - Haydn: The Six Last Sonatas
• Orchestre symphonie de Montreal - Ravel: Bolero, La Valse, Rapsodie Espagnole, Alborada Del Graciosa
• The Toronto Symphony Orchestra - Stravinsky: The Firebird 1910 Version
• Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel, Salomoe's Dance, Death and Transfirguation

Best Jazz Album

• Fraser MacPherson, Oliver Gannon - I Didn't Know About You
• Don Thompson, Rob Pilitch - Bells
• Paul Cram - Blue Tales in Time
• Peter Leitch, George McFetridge - Sometime in Another Life
• Time Warp - Time Warp

Canadian Music Hall of Fame

• Glenn Gould

Composer of the Year

• Payola$ - Eyes of a Stranger
• Straight Lines - Letting Go
• Rush - New World Man Lyrics
• Loverboy - Working for the Weekend Lyrics
• Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know

Country Female Vocalist of the Year

• Anne Murray Lyrics
• Marie Bottrell
• Laura Vinson
• Carroll Baker
• Cathy Chambers

Country Group or Duo of the Year

• The Good Brothers
• The Rovers
• Midnite Rodeo Band
• Garry Lee and Showdown
• The Family Brown

Country Male Vocalist of the Year

• Eddie Eastman
• Diamond Joe White
• Paul Weber
• Lee Marlow
• Harold MacIntyre

Female Vocalist of the Year

• Carole Pope
• Shari Ulrich
• Anne Murray Lyrics
• Joni Mitchell Lyrics
• Jessie Burns

Group of the Year

• Loverboy Lyrics
• Chilliwack
• Saga Lyrics
• Rush Lyrics
• April Wine Lyrics

Instrumental Artist(s) of the Year

• Liona Boyd
• All Star-Swing Band
• Frank Mills
• The Spitfire Band
• The Emeralds

International Album of the Year

• Men at Work - Business As Usual
• Foreigner - 4 Lyrics
• J. Geils Band - Freeze Frame
• Louis Clark & London Symphony - Hooked On Classics
• Olivia Newton-John - Physical

International Single of the Year

• Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger Lyrics
• Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll Lyrics
• Olivia Newton-John - Physical Lyrics
• Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra Lyrics
• Trio - Da Da Da Lyrics

Male Vocalist of the Year

• Bryan Adams Lyrics
• Aldo Nova Lyrics
• Burton Cummings
• Murray McLauchlan
• Gordon Lightfoot Lyrics

Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year

• Lydia Taylor
• Mary-Lu Zahalan
• Lee Aaron
• Luba Lyrics
• Terry Crawford

Most Promising Group of the Year

• Payola$
• Doug & The Slugs
• Spoons Lyrics
• Strange Advance
• Headpins

Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year

• Kim Mitchell
• David Wilcox Lyrics
• David Roberts
• Lawrence Gowan
• Leroy Sibbles

Producer of the Year

• Chilliwack - Whatcha Gonna Do, Secret Information
• Rush - Subdivisions, Chemistry
• The Nylons - That Kind of Man, Prince of Darkness
• Strange Advance - Worlds Away, She Controls Me
• Shari Ulrich - You're Makin Me Nervous, The One and Only

Recording Engineer of the Year

• Payola$ - No Stranger to Danger
• Chilliwack - Opus X
• April Wine - Power Play
• Rough Trade - Shaking the Foundations
• Strange Advance - Worlds Away

Single of the Year

• Payola$ - Eyes of a Stranger
• Loverboy - Working for the Weekend Lyrics
• Rush - New World Man Lyrics
• Straight Lines - Letting Go
• Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know