Each winner of the 1994 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 set up by the Canada Council for the Arts.
English Language
Fiction
Winner:
- Rudy Wiebe, A Discovery of Strangers
Other Finalists:
- Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride
- Donna McFarlane, Division of Surgery
- Alice Munro, Open Secrets
- Russell Smith, How Insensitive
Poetry
Winner:
- Robert Hilles, Cantos from a Small Room
Other Finalists:
- Robin Blaser, The Holy Forest
- Polly Fleck, The Chinese Execution
- Monty Reid, Dog Sleeps
Drama
Winner:
- Morris Panych, The Ends of the Earth
Other Finalists:
- Joanna McClelland Glass, If We Are Women
- Wendy Lill, All Fall Down
- Bryden MacDonald, Whale Riding Weather
Non-Fiction
Winner:
- John A. Livingston, Rogue Primate: An Exploration of Human Domestication
Other Finalists:
- Sharon Butala, The Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature
- Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children: Portrait of a Family
- Joan Haggerty, The Invitation: A Memoir of Family Love and Reconciliation
- Peter Larisey, Light for a Cold Land: Lawren Harris's Work and Life-An Interpretation
Children's Literature – Text
Winner:
- Julie Johnston, Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me (Lester Publishing)
Other Finalists:
- Sarah Ellis, Out of the Blue
- Carol Matas, The Burning Time
- Jim McGugan, Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story
- Ken Roberts, Past Tense
Children's Literature – Illustration
Winner:
- Murray Kimber, Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story
Other Finalists:
- Marie Lafrance, La Diablesse and the Baby
- Michèle Lemieux, There Was An Old Man...: A Collection of Limericks
- Laurie McGaw, Polar, the Titanic Bear
- Martin Springett, Who
Translation (from French to English)
Winner:
- Donald Winkler, The Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby Boomers
Other Finalists:
- Patricia Claxton, Tchipayuk or The Way of the Wolf
- Sheila Fischman, The Sound of Living Things
- David Homel, An Aroma of Coffee
- Shelley Tepperman, Playing Bare
French Language
Fiction
Winner:
- Robert Lalonde, Le petit aigle à tête blanche
Other Finalists:
- Réjean Ducharme, Va savoir
- Daniel Poliquin, L'Écureuil noir
- Hélène Rioux, Pense à mon rendez-vous
- Sylvain Trudel, Les Prophètes
Poetry
Winner:
- Fulvio Caccia, Aknos
Other Finalists:
- Marcel Labine, Machines imaginaires
- Rachel Leclerc, Rabatteurs d'étoiles
- Paul Chanel Malenfant, Hommes de profil
- Pierre Ouellet, Vita chiara, villa oscura
Drama
Winner:
- Michel Ouellette, French Town
Other Finalists:
- Michelle Allen, Morgane
- Yvan Bienvenue, Histoires à mourir d'amour
- Claude Poissant, Si tu meurs, je te tue
- Jean-Pierre Ronfard, Cinq études
Non-Fiction
Winner:
- Chantal Saint-Jarre, Du sida
Other Finalists:
- Fernand Dumont, Genèse de la société québécoise
- Jean Lamarre, Le devenir de la nation québécoise
- Ginette Pelland, La peur des mots
- Georges E. Sioui, Les Wendats : une civilisation méconnue
Children's Literature – Text
Winner:
- Suzanne Martel, Une belle journée pour mourir
Other Finalists:
- Marie-Danielle Croteau, Un monde à la dérive
- François Gravel, Klonk
Children's Literature – Illustration
Winner:
- Pierre Pratt, Mon chien est un éléphant
Other Finalists:
- Sylvie Deronzier, Tartarin et le lion
- Stéphane Poulin, Le parc aux sortilèges
- Rémy Simard, Monsieur noir et blanc
- Gilles Tibo, Simon et la plume perdue
Translation (from English to French)
Winner:
- Jude Des Chênes, Le mythe du sauvage
Other Finalists:
- Claire Dupond and Hervé Juste, Les spécialistes des sciences sociales et la politique au Canada
- Michèle Marineau, Au-delà des ténèbres
- Normand Paiement and Hervé Juste, Les Géants des ordures
- Daniel Poliquin, Le récit de voyage en Nouvelle – France de l'abbé peintre Hugues Pommier