This study reports on the performance of canola varieties included in the National Winter Canola Variety Test (NWCVT) as tested in southern Illinois.  The NWCVT began in 1995 and is coordinated by personnel at Kansas State University and distributed across many US states.  Each year, two locations were grown in southern Illinois, one at Belleville and one at Carbondale.  The number of entries has varied between 23 and 32 varieties.  Trials were designed as a randomized complete block with three replications.  Plots consisted of 6 rows, planted within a space 1.2m wide and 7.6m long.  Soil test levels were maintained at 60+kg per hectare phosphorous and 270+ kg per hectare potassium.  Nitrogen was applied at a rate of 25 kg per hectare preplant and 120 kg per hectare in the spring prior to breakage of dormancy.  Trifluralin was applied at a rate of 0.84 kg AI per hectare.  Of the 20 trials planted, 15 were harvested for yield.  Three of the aborted trials experienced poor stand establishment, two had late planting dates, 2 others had poor winter survival and one experienced a dry soil bed at the time of planting.  The mean trial yield ranged from a low of 1365 kg per hectare to a high of 4100 kg per hectare.  The yield of the top five entries in each trial ranged from a low of 2008 to a high of 4636 kg per hectare.  The mean winter survival rate of the trials has ranged from 66% to 100%, with 11 of the 15 locations begin over 80%.  We conclude that winter canola, planted into a moist seed bed in med September is a viable crop for the southern Illinois region.