Each winner of the 1980 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
English edit
| Category | Winner | Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction |  George Bowering, Burning Water
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| Non-fiction | Jeffrey Simpson, Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration
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| Poetry or drama | Stephen Scobie, McAlmon's Chinese Opera
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French edit
| Category | Winner | Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Pierre Turgeon, La première personne
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| Non-fiction | Maurice Champagne-Gilbert, La famille et l'homme à délivrer du pouvoir
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| Poetry or drama | Michel van Schendel, De l'oeil et de l'écoute
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