Brent Butt will take the top prize for comedy at this year's Banff World Television Festival, which on Thursday tapped him for its Sir Peter Ustinov Award.

"We are so thrilled to present this award to Brent," said Jennifer Harkness, executive director of the festival, in a statement. "For years he has been one of Canada's best comedic actors, and has now become one of our best exports to television audiences around the world."

Butt, currently at work on the sixth and final season of Corner Gas, joins the ranks of past Ustinov winners such as John Cleese, Bob Newhart, Kelsey Grammer and Rick Mercer. CTV president Susanne Boyce will present the award on June 9.

A stand-up comic by trade, the Saskatchewan native's TV specials include Bedtime with Brent Butt, and in 2001, he was named best male stand-up at the Canadian Comedy Awards before going on to create the smash sitcom Corner Gas for CTV and The Comedy Network. The show, which has never had less than one million viewers at home on the main network, is now seen in more than two dozen countries.

The Banff festival runs June 8-11, organized by Achilles Media.