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The Canadian Screen Awards return Sunday night with a bigger-than-usual spotlight, thanks in no small part to “Heated Rivalry,” whose breakout stars are expected to attend.

The 2026 Canadian Screen Awards will air Sunday, May 31 at 8 p.m. ET from the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. Andrew Phung hosts this year’s ceremony, which will be broadcast across CBC, CTV and Global and streamed on CBC Gem, Crave and STACKTV. For Canadian viewers, the most straightforward free streaming option is CBC Gem, which carries the live CBC broadcast. For viewers outside Canada, including in the U.K., the best workaround is to use a VPN to connect to a Canadian server. We recommend ExpressVPN (currently offering a free trial) or NordVPN (with a steep discount).

The ceremony is likely to draw extra attention from “Heated Rivalry” fans after the series scored 18 Canadian Screen Award nominations, including Best Drama Series for Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady. Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander, and François Arnaud are both nominated for Best Lead Performer, Drama Series, while Sophie Nélisse and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova are nominated for Best Supporting Performer, Drama and Nadine Bhabha is nominated for Best Guest Performance, Drama Series. Williams and Nélisse are among the “Heated Rivalry” stars expected to attend Sunday night.

The show has already had a strong Canadian Screen Awards week. Ahead of the main telecast, “Heated Rivalry” picked up a string of scripted television wins, adding momentum heading into the marquee ceremony, where its remaining nominations include Best Drama Series and the lead drama performer race.

Based on Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” novels, “Heated Rivalry” stars Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, two rival hockey stars whose years-long secret relationship becomes the emotional center of the Crave series. The show’s Canadian bona fides have made the Screen Awards its biggest awards-season stage so far, after U.S. awards eligibility questions kept it out of several major American TV races.