Polaris Music Prize Reveals 40 Nominee Album Long List At NXNE

CBC presents the 2026 Polaris Music Prize, has revealed its 40 nominated album Long List.

The album Long List, presented by Canada Council for the Arts, is where Polaris reveals the 40 nominated records that will be considered for a given year’s Prize.

The 2026 Polaris Music Prize Long List is:

Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II
Aquakultre – 1783
Baby Nova – Shhugar
The Beaches – No Hard Feelings
Begonia – Fantasy Life
Bibi Club – Amaro
Boy Golden – Best of Our Possible Lives
Mariel Buckley – Strange Trip Ahead
Lou-Adriane Cassidy – Triste animal
Ora Cogan – Hard Hearted Woman
cootie catcher – Something We All Got
Charlotte Cornfield – Hurts Like Hell
Daphni – Butterfly
Nadah El Shazly – Laini Tani
Dominique Fils-Aimé – My World Is The Sun
Foxwarren – 2
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Laughter In Summer
Holy Fuck – Event Beat
Home Front – Watch It Die
JayWood – LEO NEGRO
Rochelle Jordan – Through The Wall
Kaytranada – AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!
Catherine Leduc – Les jours où il neige à tous les postes
Les Louanges – Alouette!
Men I Trust – Equus Caballus
Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl
No Joy – Bugland
Ouri – Daisy Cutter
Peaches – No Lube So Rude
PONY – Clearly Cursed
Propagandhi – At Peace
PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?
Julianna Riolino – Echo in the Dust
Shad – Start Anew
Slash Need – SIT & GRIN
Arielle Soucy – Passages
Tanya Tagaq – Saputjiji
TOBi – For Good Measure (at Dreamhouse Studios)
Katie Tupper – Greyhound
Charlotte Day Wilson – Patchwork

The Long List includes 13 first-time nominees as well as three past winners (Kaytranada, Tanya Tagaq, and Daphni’s Dan Snaith, who won as Caribou) and two past Polaris Heritage Prize recipients (Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Peaches). In total, 202 albums were considered for the Long List by the 205 member jury this season.

The Polaris Music Prize awards $30,000 courtesy of the Slaight Family Foundation to the artist who creates the Canadian Album of the Year, judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. The 2026 Album Prize winner will be determined by a vote by the full jury after a series of Grand Jury presentations and debate sessions.

“The Canada Council for the Arts is proud to support Canadian artists through the presentation of the Polaris Prize Long List. The remarkable works of these artists showcase the vitality of Canadian music and its power to bring people together, strengthen connections across the country and share our creativity with the world. Congratulations to all the nominees.” — Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO, Canada Council for the Arts

The Album Long List was hosted by NXNE at their Artist House and featured a number of current and previous nominees in attendance.

The Album Long List reveal is the first major announcement of the Polaris season and kicks off a rapidly escalating series of announcements and events for the organization, including the 10 finalist albums on the Polaris Music Prize Album Short List being revealed on July 9. More details on this will be announced in the coming weeks.

Now in its second year, the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize will move forward with its 20 nominee Song Prize Long List announcement on June 25, and its five nominee Song Prize Short List announcement on July 29. The Song Prize winner will receive $10,000 courtesy of SOCAN. Additionally, the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, the organization’s hall of fame for Canadian albums of distinction from the past, will launch its hybrid critics prize/public vote campaign on August 5. The organization will also be bringing back the Polaris Festival throughout the month of September. A curated series of low-cost concerts, salons and workshops, the Festival will feature unique one-off events with past Polaris nominees.

All these activities will peak with the 2026 Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony, powered by by FACTOR, where the Album Prize, Song Prize and two Heritage Prize winners will be announced. Taking place at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Tuesday, September 22, this will be the fourth straight year that Polaris will take over the iconic 132-year-old Massey Hall, Canada’s marquee live venue. Tickets to the Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony are on sale now via the Massey Hall website. To celebrate the Album Long List, Polaris is offering 15% off tickets with the code POLARIS15.

Key dates in the 2026 Polaris season include:

• Thursday, June 11 – 40 Album Long List announced at NXNE
• Wednesday, June 24 – 20 Song Long List announced
• Thursday, July 9 – 10 Album Short List announced
• Wednesday, July 29 – 5 Song Short List announced
• Wednesday, August 5 – Heritage Prize nominees announced; public voting opens
• Friday, August 21 – Heritage Prize public voting closes
• Tuesday, September 22 – Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony at Massey Hall
• Throughout September – Polaris Festival (programming to be announced)

POLARIS ALBUM PRIZE WINNERS

The past winners are Yves Jarvis (2025), Jeremy Dutcher (2024), Debby Friday (2023), Pierre Kwenders (2022), Cadence Weapon (2021), Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).

CBC presents the 2026 Polaris Music Prize. This year’s Concert & Award Ceremony is powered by FACTOR, the Government of Canada, and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. It is supported by SiriusXM Canada, Ontario Creates, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, and the Slaight Family Foundation.

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