| Year | Winner | Book | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Sondra Gotlieb | True Confections | Musson |
| 1978 | Ernest Buckler | Whirligig | McClelland & Stewart |
| 1977 | Ray Guy | That Far Greater Bay | Breakwater Books |
| 1976 | Harry J. Boyle | The Luck of the Irish | Macmillan |
| 1975 | Morley Torgov | A Good Place to Come From | Lester & Orpen |
| 1974 | Donald Jack | That's Me in the Middle | Doubleday |
| 1973 | Donald Bell | Saturday Night at the Bagel Factory | McClelland and Stewart |
| 1972 | Max Braithwaite | The Night They Stole the Mounties' Car | McClelland and Stewart |
| 1971 | Robert Thomas Allen | Wives, Children & Other Wild Life | Paperjacks |
| 1970 | Farley Mowat | The Boat Who Wouldn't Float | McClelland |