Singer-songwriter Loreena McKennitt has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

The Morden native says she was shocked by the announcement.

"It wasn't something that I was expecting," she says. "I think part of it comes from when one thinks of a singer-songwriter this day and age that it might be people writing different kinds of material than the kind of material that I've been writing, which is more a pursuit of the history of the Celts and a travel kind of thing. Then once I got over the shock then, I was very honored, you know, feeling grateful for the recognition."

The two-time JUNO-award winner has been nominated for two Grammys and has sold more than 14 million records worldwide.

The induction ceremony took place on March 8 - International Women’s Day - as part of a Women in Music Canada Honours event in Toronto. 

It's not the first honour given the former Manitoban. In 2003 McKennitt became a member of the Order of Manitoba; a year later she was awarded the Order of Canada and in 2013 was appointed Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters of the Republic of France.

She has performed in some of the world’s most-respected and historic concert venues, from Carnegie Hall to the famous Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain and for dignitaries including the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III, and other heads of state.

It was after moving to Winnipeg that she discovered the world of Celtic music.  

"In those years I was starting to attend some folk clubs. A harp maker from Winnipeg called Larry Fisher was the conduit to the Celtic music. He was also involved in a folk club that was in a woodworking shop down Main Street [in Winnipeg]. And folks were from Ireland and Scotland and England and people would gather there on a Sunday evening. They would play tunes and share tunes and share albums. So once I heard this it was really like love at first, you know, listening."

McKennitt moved to Ontario in 1981 to perform with the Stratford Festival and has lived there since. She maintains her connection to southern Manitoba through family who live just outside Winnipeg and maintain a cattle farm near Morden, and through longtime friends.

The strength of the musical fabric in her hometown was central to her development.

"It's like reading a book where you see the imagery of what somebody's writing or when I've been working in film or theater. I think very, very visually. There's almost a picture or a little film that goes with every single song I've written. It has nothing to do with a career or the commodification of something. But it's like somebody taking a piece of wood and saying, you know, I'm going to make a piece of sculpture or I'm going to make a beautiful birdhouse. It's just taking all those skills and those elements and realizing something that is just for the love of itself."

She currently lives in Stratford, Ontario working with the Stratford Festival acting company.

McKennitt is anticipating an fall tour commemorating the 32nd anniversary of her life-altering, Juno Award-winning album, The Visit. The tour will visit the U.S. Northeast and parts of the Midwest this October and November. It will also take McKennitt to a handful of western Canadian cities, including Winnipeg (near Remembrance Day), Regina, Calgary and Edmonton.

Check out this Christmas episode of Manitoba in Manitoba featuring Loreena McKennitt! Find more Manitoba in Manitoba episodes at podcastville.ca

- With files from Chris Sumner