The 2001 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented by Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, at a ceremony at Rideau Hall on November 14. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.
English
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Richard B. Wright, Clara Callan
|
- Yann Martel, Life of Pi
- Tessa McWatt, Dragons Cry
- Jane Urquhart, The Stone Carvers
- Thomas Wharton, Salamander
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Ingenuity Gap
|
- Susan Crean, The Laughing One: A Journey to Emily Carr
- Ross A. Laird, Grain of Truth: The Ancient Lessons of Craft
- Alberto Manguel, Reading Pictures: A History of Love and Hate
- Jack Todd, The Taste of Metal: A Deserter's Story
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| George Elliott Clarke, Execution Poems
|
- Anne Carson, Men in the Off Hours
- Phil Hall, Trouble Sleeping
- Robert Kroetsch, The Hornbooks of Rita K.
- Steve McCaffery, Seven Pages Missing
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Kent Stetson, The Harps of God
|
- Mark Brownell, Monsieur d'Eon
- Clem Martini, A Three Martini Lunch
- Michael Redhill, Building Jerusalem
- Jason Sherman, An Acre of Time: The Play
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Arthur Slade, Dust
|
- Brian Doyle, Mary Ann Alice
- Beth Goobie, Before Wings
- Julie Johnston, In Spite of Killer Bees
- Teresa Toten, The Game
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Mireille Levert, An Island in the Soup
|
- Harvey Chan, Wild Bog Tea
- Murray Kimber, The Wolf of Gubbio
- Kim LaFave, We'll All Go Sailing
- Cindy Revell, Mallory and the Power Boy
|-
| align="center"| French to English translation
| Fred A. Reed and David Homel, Fairy Ring (Martine Desjardins, Le Cercle de Clara)
|
- Sheila Fischman, The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (Gaétan Soucy, La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes)
- Gail Scott, The Sailor's Disquiet (Michael Delisle, Le Désarroi du matelot)
|}
French
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
!width=15%|Category
!width=30%|Winner
!width=55%|Nominated
|-
| align="center"| Fiction
| Andrée A. Michaud, '
|
- Marie-Claire Blais, '
- Rachel Leclerc, '
|-
| align="center"| Non-fiction
| Renée Dupuis, '
|
- Jacques Allard, '
- Michel Biron, '
- Madeleine Gagnon, '
- Jacques B. Gélinas, '
|-
| align="center"| Poetry
| Paul Chanel Malenfant, '
|
- Tania Langlais, '
- Hélène Monette, '
- Stefan Psenak, '
- Jean-Philippe Raîche, '
|-
| align="center"| Drama
| Normand Chaurette, '
|
- François Archambault, '
- Réjane Charpentier, '
- Michel Ouellette, "Requiem", in '
|-
| align="center"| Children's literature
| Christiane Duchesne, '
|
- Cécile Gagnon, '
- Ann Lamontagne, '
- Marthe Pelletier, '
- Jean-Michel Schembré, '
|-
| align="center"| Children's illustration
| Bruce Roberts, '
|
- Marjolaine Bonenfant, '
- Pascale Constantin, '
- Stéphane Poulin, '
- Mylène Pratt, '
|-
| align="center"| English to French translation
| Michel Saint-Germain, '
|
- Agnès Guitard, '
- Maryse Warda, '
|}