2026 Season Launch
Long List / Jun 10
Short List / Jul 10
Polaris Concert / Sep 16
Heritage Prize / Sep 16

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We believe music can move people, shift and reflect culture, and bring us together. This is where we share winner announcements, Long/Short Lists, festival news, artist interviews, and behind-the-scenes updates from the Polaris season.

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Polaris Festival Present Raw Reflections With SATE

$15 Listening Session | Sep 22, 7:30PM | The Vault Creation Lab |||| Join Toronto rock force SATE for an intimate listening session at The Vault Creation Lab, offering a rare glimpse into the early stages of her newest project — a fierce and vulnerable rock opera exploring the mother-daughter thread and the mother wound. Through music, words, and soulful reflection, she shares the sparks and shadows that shape her work.

ROM After Dark + Polaris Music Prize

$40 (tax and fees included)Concert | Sep 26, 7:30-11:30PM | Royal Ontario Museum |||| Polaris‑winning Cadence Weapon and shortlisted nominee Junia‑T take over the decks at the ROM After Dark for a high-energy DJ party. Join them and party around dinosaur bones that are 145–200 million years old in ROM’s Connelly Hall. A rare mash‑up of club vibes and ancient atmosphere.

Polaris Festival & Second Summer Present: Jaywood

$45 Concert | Sep 24, 7:00PM | Lee’s Palace |||| Join us on September 24th at Lee’s Palace in Toronto for the Second Summer Launch Party. Polaris Music Prize has partnered with Second Summer to present Polaris nominee JayWood for the Second Summer lineup.

2025 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Voting Is Now Open

Voting for the 2025 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize has opened and the nominees are in. The companion award to the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are also Canadian albums of artistic distinction, without regard to sales, genre or affiliation. This is our version of a hall of fame where […]

Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Saya Gray, Yves Jarvis, Mustafa, Ribbon Skirt Make The First Ever SOCAN Polaris Song Prize Short List

CBC presents the 2025 Polaris Music Prize has revealed the five-nominee Short List for its first-ever SOCAN Polaris Song Prize. Polaris, celebrating its 20th anniversary, and SOCAN, celebrating its 100th anniversary, recently announced the new Song Prize where the winning song takes home $10,000 split between the song’s Canadian performers and the song’s credited Canadian […]

Lido Pimienta Teams Up With Owen Pallett, Talks La Bellesza, Making Everyone Mad

· by Sun Noor, Polaris Music Prize Juror

Above: Lido Pimienta by Ada Navarro Sun Noor, Polaris Music Prize Juror Lido Pimienta is a Colombian-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist who builds worlds through her artistry. She took home the Polaris Music Prize in 2017 for her captivating debut album, La Papessa. Polaris caught up with the Toronto-based musician and visual artist to discuss her new […]

20 Nominees Revealed For First Ever SOCAN Polaris Song Prize

CBC presents the 2025 Polaris Music Prize has revealed the 20 nominee Long List for its first-ever SOCAN Polaris Song Prize. Polaris, celebrating its 20th anniversary, and SOCAN, celebrating its 100th anniversary, announced the new Song Prize with the winning song taking home $10,000 split between the song’s Canadian performers and the song’s credited Canadian […]

Polaris Music Prize Reveals 40 Album Long List, Announces Launch Of Song Prize and Polaris Festival

· by

CBC presents the 2025 Polaris Music Prize, has revealed its 40 nominated album Long List. The organization, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, also announced the launch of two major new initiatives, the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize and 2025 Polaris Festival. The album Long List, presented by Canada Council for the Arts, is […]

Two Hours Traffic Return, Talk Miracle Fortress, Canada Day Plans & More

· by Jason MacNeil, Polaris Music Prize juror

Two decades after releasing their full-length self-titled debut, Prince Edward Island pop rock quartet Two Hours Traffic are back with the I Never See You Anymore EP. The group featuring singer/guitarist Liam Corcoran, bassist Andrew MacDonald, drummer Derek Ellis and guitarist (and new member) Nick Donneff, were Polaris Short-Listed in 2008 for Little Jabs. But after their fourth […]

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