Each winner of the 1993 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners 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
| Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries
|
- Caroline Adderson, Bad Imaginings
- Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water
- David Adams Richards, For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down
- Carol Windley, Visible Light
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Karen Connelly, Touch the Dragon
|
- Marq de Villiers, The Heartbreak Grape: A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir
- Marian Fowler, In a Gilded Cage
- Jane Jacobs, Systems of Survival
- Noël Mostert, Frontiers
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Don Coles, Forests of the Medieval World
|
- Claire Harris, Drawing Down a Daughter
- Monty Reid, Crawlspace: New and Selected Poems
- Douglas Burnet Smith, Voices from a Farther Room
- Patricia Young, More Watery Still
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Guillermo Verdecchia, Fronteras Americanas
|
- Daniel MacIvor, House Humans
- Raymond Storey, The Saints and Apostles
- David Young, Glenn
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Tim Wynne-Jones, Some of the Kinder Planets
|
- Mitzi Dale, Bryna Means Courage
- James Archibald Houston, Drifting Snow: An Arctic Search
- Carol Matas, Daniel's Story
- Shirley Sterling, My Name Is Seepeetza
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Mireille Levert, Sleep Tight, Mrs. Ming
|
- Scott Cameron, Beethoven Lives Upstairs
- Marc Mongeau, There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen!
- Russ Willms, Brewster Rooster
- Leo Yerxa, Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall
|-
| align="center"| French to English translation
| D. G. Jones, Categorics One, Two and Three
|
- Jane Brierley, The Maerlande Chronicles
- Sheila Fischman, Following the Summer
- Linda Gaboriau, The Eye Is an Eagle
- Käthe Roth, The Last Cod Fish
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Nancy Huston, Cantique des plaines
|
- Esther Croft, Au commencement était le froid
- Robert Lalonde, Sept lacs plus au nord
- Rober Racine, Le Mal de Vienne
- Pierre Yergeau, Tu attends la neige, Léonard?
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| François Paré, Les Littératures de l'exiguïté
|
- Léon Dion, Québec 1945–2000 : Les intellectuels et le temps de Duplessis
- Maurice Lemire, Formation de l'imaginaire littéraire au Québec 1764–1867
- Jean Terrasse, De Mentor à Orphée
- Andrée Yanacopoulo, Hans Selye ou la Cathédrale du stress
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Denise Desautels, Le Saut de l'ange
|
- Denise Boucher, Grandeur nature
- Roger Des Roches, La Réalité
- Madeleine Gagnon, La Terre est remplie de langage
- Serge Patrice Thibodeau, Le Cycle de Prague
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Daniel Danis, Celle-là
|
- Jasmine Dubé, Petit Monstre
- Gilbert Dupuis, Kushapatshikan
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Michèle Marineau, La Route de Chlifa
|
- Yves Beauchemin, Antoine et Alfred
- Dominique Demers, Les grands sapins ne meurent pas
- Raymond Plante, Les Dents de la poule
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Stéphane Jorisch, Le Monde selon Jean de ...
|
- Francis Back, Des crayons qui trichent
- Michel Bisson, Thomas et la nuit
- Sheldon Cohen, Le Plus Long Circuit
- François Vaillancourt, Le Premier Voyage de Monsieur Patapoum
|-
| align="center"| English to French translation
| Marie José Thériault, L'Oeuvre du Gallois
|
- Hervé Juste, Histoire de la sécurité sociale au Canada
- Charlotte Melançon, Grandeur et misère de la modernité
|}