The 8th Canadian Film Awards were held on August 6, 1956 to honour achievements in Canadian film. The ceremony was hosted by actor Maurice Evans.

This year, the event was held in Stratford for three reasons. The Stratford Festival was celebrating its third year, Tyrone Guthrie's Oedipus Rex, the filmed version of the Stratford Festival's production, was the only feature-length film made in Canada in 1956, and Stratford was planning the new international Stratford Film Festival. This was also the year that television awards were introduced.