Each winner of the 1989 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
| Paul Quarrington, Whale Music
|
- Ann Copeland, The Golden Thread
- Helen Weinzweig, A View from the Roof
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Robert Calder, Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham
|
- Janice Boddy, Wombs and Alien Spirits
- Robert MacNeil, Wordstruck
- Dale A. Russell, An Odyssey in Time: The Dinosaurs of North America
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Heather Spears, The Word for Sand
|
- Tim Lilburn, Tourist to Ecstasy
- Stephen Scobie, Dunino
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Judith Thompson, The Other Side of the Dark
|
- Tomson Highway, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing
- John Krizanc, Tamara
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Diana Wieler, Bad Boy
|
- Kit Pearson, The Sky is Falling
- Eliane Corbeil Roe, Circle of Light
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Robin Muller, The Magic Paintbrush
|
- Michèle Lemieux, A Gift from Saint Francis
- Jan Thornhill, The Wildlife 123
|-
| align="center"| French to English translation
| Wayne Grady, On the Eighth Day
|
- Arlette Francière, Kaleidoscope
- Donald Winkler, Rose and Thorn
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Louis Hamelin, La Rage
|
- Robert Lalonde, Le Diable en personne
- Jacques Poulin, Le Vieux Chagrin
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Lise Noël, L'Intolérance : une problématique générale
|
- Jean Éthier-Blais, Fragments d'une enfance
- Pierre Morency, L'Oeil américain
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Pierre DesRuisseaux, Monème
|
- Christiane Frenette, Cérémonie mémoire
- Élise Turcotte, La Terre est ici
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Michel Garneau, Mademoiselle Rouge
|
- Michel Marc Bouchard, Les Muses orphelines
- Robert Claing, La Femme d'intérieur
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Charles Montpetit, Temps mort
|
- Jacques Lazure, Le Domaine des Sans Yeux
- Joceline Sanschagrin, La Fille aux cheveux rouges
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Stéphane Poulin, Benjamin et la saga des oreillers
|
- Frédéric Back, L'Homme qui plantait des arbres
- Philippe Béha, Mais que font les fées avec toutes ces dents?
|-
| align="center"| English to French translation
| Jean Antonin Billard, Les Âges de l'amour
|
- Ronald Guévremont, Comme un vent chaud de Chine
- Christine Klein-Lataud, Un Oiseau dans la maison
|}