The 1996 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented on November 13, 1996.[1]
English
| Category | Winner | Nominated | 
| Fiction |  Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy |  | 
| Non-fiction |  John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization |  | 
| Poetry |  E. D. Blodgett, Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano |  | 
| Drama |  Colleen Wagner, The Monument | Wendy Lill, The Glace Bay Miners' MuseumJohn Mighton, The Little YearsMichael O'Brien, Mad Boy ChronicleBetty Quan, Mother Tongue
 | 
| Children's literature |  Paul Yee, Ghost Train |  | 
| Children's illustration |  Eric Beddows, The Rooster's Gift | Alan Daniel and Lea Daniel, Sody SalleratusWang Kui, The Wise Washerman – A Folktale from BurmaJohnny Wales, Gruntle Piggle Takes OffWerner Zimmermann, Whatever You Do, Don't Go Near That Canoe!
 | 
| French to English translation |  Linda Gaboriau, Stone and Ashes (Daniel Danis, Cendres de cailloux) |  | 
French
| Category | Winner | Nominated | 
| Fiction |  Marie-Claire Blais, Soifs |  | 
| Non-fiction |  Michel Freitag, Le Naufrage de l'université – Et autres essais d'épistémologie politique | Gérard Bouchard, Quelques arpents d'Amérique – Population, économie, famille au Saguenay 1838–1971Gilles Lapointe, L'Envol des signes – Borduas et ses lettresBenoît Melançon, Diderot épistolier – Contribution à une poétique de la lettre familière au XVIIIe siècleDenis Vaugeois, La Fin des alliances franco-indiennes – Enquête sur un sauf-conduit de 1760 devenu un traité en 1990
 | 
| Poetry |  Serge Patrice Thibodeau Le Quatuor de l'errance / La Traversée du désert |  | 
| Drama |  Normand Chaurette, Le Passage de l'Indiana |  | 
| Children's literature |  Gilles Tibo, Noémie – Le Secret de Madame Lumbago |  | 
| Children's illustration | No award presented | 
| English to French translation |  Christiane Teasdale, Systèmes de survie – Dialogue sur les fondements moraux du commerce et de la politique | Pierre DesRuisseaux, Contre-taille – Poèmes choisis de vingt-cinq auteurs canadiens-anglaisHélène Le Beau, Les Dangers de la pensée critique – Trois nouvelles
 | 
References
- ^ Philip Marchand, "Vanderhaeghe wins second fiction prize". Toronto Star, November 13, 1996.
 
|  | 
|---|
| English-language awards |  | 
|---|
| French-language awards |  | 
|---|
| Awards by year |  | 
|---|