Each winner of the 1988 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
English
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| David Adams Richards, Nights Below Station Street
|
- Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye
- Joan Clark, The Victory of Geraldine Gull
- Mark Frutkin, Atmospheres Apollinaire
- Kenneth Radu, The Cost of Living
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Anne Collins, In the Sleep Room
|
- Pierre Berton, The Arctic Grail
- Alan Borovoy, When Freedoms Collide
- Edith Iglauer, Fishing with John
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Erín Moure, Furious
|
- Lorna Crozier, Angels of Flesh, Angels of Silence
- Christopher Dewdney, Radiant Inventory
- David McFadden, Gypsy Guitar
- Peter Dale Scott, Coming to Jakarta
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| George F. Walker, Nothing Sacred
|
- Dennis Foon, Skin from Skin and Liars
- Tomson Highway, The Rez Sisters
- Maureen Hunter, Footprints on the Moon
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Welwyn Wilton Katz, The Third Magic
|
- Martha Brooks, Paradise Café and Other Stories
- Brian Doyle, Easy Avenue
- Jean Little, Little by Little
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Kim LaFave, Amos's Sweater
|
- Marie-Louise Gay, Angel and the Polar Bear
- Jillian Hulme Gilliland, How the Devil Got His Cat
- Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Sleepers
- Jan Thornhill, The Wildlife ABC
|-
| align="center"| French to English translation
| Philip Stratford, Second Chance
|
- Arnold Bennett, The History of the Labour Movement in Quebec
- Jane Brierley, A Man of Sentiment: The Memoirs of Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé
- David Homel, How to Make Love to a Negro
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Jacques Folch-Ribas, Le Silence ou le Parfait Bonheur
|
- Noël Audet, L'Ombre de l'épervier
- Normand Chaurette, Scènes d'enfants
- Christian Mistral, Vamp
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Patricia Smart, Écrire dans la maison du père
|
- Jacques Desautels, Dieux et Mythes de la Grèce ancienne
- Lucien Parizeau, Périples autour d'un langage
- Fernande Roy, Progrès, harmonie, liberté
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Marcel Labine, Papiers d'épidémie
|
- François Charron, Le Monde comme obstacle
- Louise Dupré, Bonheur
- Gilbert Langevin, La Saison hantée
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Jean-Marc Dalpé, Le Chien
|
- Normand Canac-Marquis, Le Syndrome de Cézanne
- Marie-Francine Hébert, Oui ou non
- Marco Micone, Déjà l'agonie
- André Ricard, Le Déversoir des larmes
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Michèle Marineau, Cassiopée ou l'Été polonais
|
- Denis Côté, Les prisonniers du zoo
- Cécile Gagnon, Châteaux de sable
- André Vanasse, Des Millions pour une chanson
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Philippe Béha, Les Jeux de Pic-Mots
|
- Sylvie Daigle, Le Mot de passe
- Pierre Pratt, Peut-il, peut-elle?
- Gilles Tibo, Simon et les flocons de neige
|-
| align="center"| English to French translation
| Didier Holtzwarth, Nucléus
|
- Gérard Boulad, Profession: Religieuse
- Jean Lévesque and Michèle Venet, Le Rêve d'une génération
- Michel Saint-Germain, Flagrant Délice
|}