William Shatner, posing for photographers in Cannes, France, in April, will host the Genie Awards in March. (Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press)

By CBC News

William Shatner is returning to Canada in March to host the Genie Awards ceremony, which celebrates the best in Canadian film. It will take place in Ottawa this year.

Shatner said he looked forward to coming to Canada and seeing "old friends."

"Unfortunately, most of them are dead of old age," quipped the Montreal-born stage, television and film actor, who has starred in Boston Legal, T.J. Hooker and the original Star Trek. Shatner himself is 79.

He currently stars in the Twitter-inspired CBS sitcom S#*! My Dad Says.

Rachelle Lefevre, known for her roles in the Twilight films and Barney's Version, will also participate in the ceremony as the voice announcer.

Barney's Version, based on Mordecai Richler's final novel, leads the nominations with 11. Denis Villeneuve's family drama Incendies follows with ten nominations. Other titles that earned multiple Genie nominations include Vincenzo Natali's sci-fi thriller Splice, Xavier Dolan's contemporary love story Heartbeats (Les amours imaginaires) and Jacob Tierney's teen comedy The Trotsky.

CBC will broadcast the 31st annual Genie Awards live from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on March 10.

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