The 2026 PMAC Awards for Excellence in Investment Journalism highlights the essential role Canada’s top financial reporters play in demystifying complex economic forces, translating volatile market trends, and giving everyday investors the clarity they need to chart their financial futures.
This year’s award-winning stories brought critical transparency to a fractured financial landscape, digging into the high-stakes human toll behind a rising star hedge fund’s collapse and the widespread investor fallout from Canada’s pandemic-era SPAC boom. Winners also pulled back the curtain on the hidden public risks tied to private assets, analyzed the direct threat of shifting U.S. tax policies on Canadian portfolios, investigated the rising regulatory crackdown on financial “influencers”, and explored why the precise timing of professional financial advice can fundamentally alter an investor’s success.
“At a time when markets are more volatile and information channels are more siloed than ever, Canadians need clear and grounded financial reporting they can trust,” says PMAC President Katie Walmsley. “This year’s winners cut straight to the core of what truly matters to Canadian investors, striking through the daily noise to deliver coverage that empowers individuals to make smarter, more informed decisions about their wealth. We congratulate these recipients for their exceptional dedication to journalistic excellence.”
The winners of the 2026 PMAC Awards for Excellence in Investment Journalism are:
LONG-FORM CATEGORY:
First Prize:
Joe O’Connor (Financial Post) for Death of a hedge fund prodigy
Second Prize:
Barbara Shecter (Financial Post) for Canada’s SPAC ‘debacle’: How a shortcut to market has spelled trouble for companies and investors
Third Prize:
Clare O’Hara & Jameson Berkow (Globe and Mail) for Private Assets, Public Risk
SHORT-FORM CATEGORY:
First Prize:
Clare O’Hara and Rudy Mezzetta (Globe and Mail) for Trump tax threatens Canadian investors (Series)
Second Prize:
Megan Foy (La Presse) for Une vingtaine d’influenceurs contactés par l’AMF
Third Prize:
Preet Banerjee (Globe and Mail) for Why the timing of financial advice matters
The competition’s Long and Short Submission first prize is $4,000. Second prize is $2,000. Third prize is $1,000. The prizes will be presented at the 2026 PMAC Awards presentation in Toronto on Tuesday, June 16.
Details of the annual competition are available here.
This year also marked an important evolution in the Awards program. What was previously a stand-alone Audio-Visual category is now fully integrated into the Short-Form and Long-Form Submission Categories, reflecting how modern journalism is produced and consumed. The updated structure ensures that outstanding storytelling, whether delivered through written reporting, video, audio, or multi-platform journalism, is evaluated together based on journalistic strength, insight, and impact.
Congratulations to all the winners!