On an especially hot summer day at the NXNE Artist House in downtown Toronto, artists, music journalists, and industry reps gathered together to kick off the 2026 Polaris Music Prize. Forty albums were long listed for Prize, with nominee highlights including 13 first timers and three former winners (Kaytranada, Tanya Tagaq, Daphni’s Dan Snaith, who won as Caribou.) Many of this year’s nominees were in attendance for the announcement.
Every year, the Polaris Music Prize jury — comprised of critics, journalists, and creators — puts forth recommendations for the best Canadian albums. This year, 205 jurors recommended 202 records to be long listed for the prize. From this long list, 10 will make the final shortlist, which will be announced on July 9.
This year’s long list albums are:
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 $30,000 Polaris Music Prize courtesy of the Slaight Foundation will be awarded on September 22 at Massey Hall.