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10 Rising Canadian Acts to Watch in 2026
Each artist enters 2026 with a clear sense of direction — and the numbers, moments and buzz to back it up.
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Canada punches above its weight when it comes to talent. From The Weeknd and Drake to Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes and Tate McRae, some of the biggest global stars call the country home. McRae is the latest to enter the A-list of international stardom. Who could be next?
As the industry resets after a year of viral moments, chart breakthroughs and shifting audiences, 2026 already has a great batch of talent that is ready to export in a big way. That's not to mention artists like Cameron Whitcomb and Josh Ross, who already seem to be reaching that level in a very quick way.
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This list spotlights artists who aren’t just emerging but consolidating real traction — on charts, on stages and within the wider industry. From pop and rock to R&B, indie and experimental sounds, these Canadian and Canada-adjacent acts turning steady growth into something bigger.
Whether powered by streaming, live audiences, international reach or quietly influential co-signs, each artist here enters 2026 with a clear sense of direction — and the numbers, moments and buzz to back it up.
Sofia Camara
Sofia Camara is hot on the heels of a big year, and she may have an even bigger one coming. In 2025, the Toronto-based pop singer released two EPs via Universal Music Canada, performed at popular music festivals, opened for rock icon Stevie Nicks, played sold-out headline shows across Europe and secured coveted spots on Billboard Canada charts. Over the past half a decade, the 23-year-old has been turning her online success into a sustainable burgeoning pop career. With comparisons to breakout young artists like Gracie Abrams and Tate McRae, some key industry figures are getting behind her.
As she released her second EP, Hard to Love, the track “Girls Like You” became a hit. The pop number, co-written by acclaimed songwriter Lowell and Nathan Ferraro, made waves on the Billboard Canada Airplay charts and debuted on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 last September, currently sitting at No. 40 in its 17th week. Canadian radio has gotten behind her in a big way, and the song finished at No. 89 on the 2025 Radio Songs chart and placed on three other year-end charts as well. Camara didn't come out of nowhere. She's been making and posting music since her teen years, but she's riding some serious momentum into 2026. — Heather Taylor-Singh
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Sorisa
Sorisa is still in high school but he’s already graduated to underground fame. The 17-year-old Toronto native saw a breakthrough last year with “U Look So Good in Fall,” an electropop anthem that now boasts more than 600,000 streams. Just two months later, he played his first-ever sold-out headline show at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, and he’s set to grace the stage of the world-renowned hip-hop festival Rolling Loud in Orlando in May.
From “Go” and “98/99” to slower-tempo songs like “2 Steps,” Sorisa consistently pairs melodic hip-hop crooning with hyperpop and EDM-style beats filled with buzzing, blown-out synths. His style is equal parts addicting, colourful and electrifying, reminiscent of artists Nate Sib and 2hollis. The young musician continues to rack up tens of thousands of TikTok and Instagram views on DIY-style snippets of his tracks, often filmed in his bedroom using his laptop webcam. He's built a dedicated fanbase on his own, and now the industry is paying attention. — Stefano Rebuli
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Tedy
For the better part of a decade, Haitian-born, Montreal-based R&B and pop singer Tedy has gone under-the-radar. While he scored a handful of hits in the mid-2010s, his star power had yet to be fully discovered. Akin to many rising artists, Tedy found solace on social media, sharing covers, demos and to-be-released songs that showcase his knack for balancing vulnerability, queerness and upbeat pop production that has now captured the attention of his one-million TikTok followers.
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Tedy’s hard work has culminated in his debut album, Scandalous, released last November via Sony Music Canada. It features the soaring pop ballad “I Hope,” which debuted on the Billboard Canada Airplay charts in August, before hitting the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 a couple of months later. The song was a hit the whole year, showing up on four different year-end 2025 Airplay charts. With his 2025 album Scandalous still building momentum, he has a lot to draw on for an even bigger breakout this year. — H.T.S
Baby Nova
After making music for over a decade, Baby Nova is seeing the fruits of her labour. Hailing from Nova Scotia, the singer-songwriter, born Kayleigh O’Connor, took last year by storm. She has scored over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify with only seven songs in her discography — all released in 2025. Plus, she’s working with some of the best songwriters in the biz, including Lowell, who was a part of the Grammy-nominated team behind Beyoncé’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
From the soaring strings of her viral hit, “Too Pretty for Buffalo,” to the punchy guitar riffs on “Virgin Heartbreak,” Baby Nova matches each track with grandiose vocals and deeply reflective lyrics that feel reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s earlier work. Her hypnotic tunes have attracted notable buzz too — including a jawdropping performance at Billboard Canada Women In Music, her first festival gig at the inaugural All Things Go Toronto last October and first headlining show at Toronto’s The Drake Hotel Underground two months later. Baby Nova will release her debut album, Shhugar, on Jan. 16. While more than half of the tracklist is already released, the rest is sure to be a sweet surprise. — H.T.S.
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Blynk
Laval, Québec’s own Blynk has quietly emerged as one of the province’s most intriguing R&B talents, carving out a breakout that now reaches well beyond local buzz across the global francophone music landscape.
That momentum crystallized with his collaboration alongside Belgian star Damso on "MTL," a track pairing Damso’s internationally established presence with Blynk’s warm, soulful vocals. Born out of a live creative session during Damso’s BYH2 project live recording in Montréal, the collaboration served as a major inflection point, introducing Blynk to a broader, cross-genre audience. The song has reached 14 million views on YouTube and nearly 5 million streams on Spotify, gaining strong traction across key francophone markets including France, Belgium and Switzerland. For a Québec R&B artist operating with a deliberately low-key profile, that level of international reach is significant — positioning his sound naturally within the broader francophone rap and R&B ecosystem.
Beyond the Damso collaboration, Blynk has quietly built a catalogue of solo tracks that have each crossed the one-million-stream mark, with momentum continuing on his late 2025 album SoftBoy Actif 2. He performed it live at La Boule Noire — the Pigalle venue long associated with breaking emerging and influential artists like Stromae, Christine and the Queens and Damso. — Yasmine Seck
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Boy Golden
Boy Golden's new album Best of Our Possible Lives won't be out until Feb. 13, but he's already spent over a month at No. 1 on the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart with its lead single, "Suffer." The Winnipeg singer-songwriter-producer is building serious momentum behind a sound that blends rock grooves with country atmosphere and songs that venture from timeless tears-in-my-beer themes into German philosophy, Buddhism and the nature of existence. But despite the big themes, he has a very breezy and easy-to-listen to sound that is connecting in a big way.
His new album will come out on indie label Six Shooter Records, which thrives on roots-leaning artists with an independent spirit, and is recorded by Robbie Lackritz, who's worked with veteran Canadians like Feist and Bahamas. He's keeping great company. — Richard Trapunski
Tia Wood
Tia Wood has a star quality that's evident from the moment she takes the stage, as she did at Billboard Canada Women In Music 2024. Though she's only had a handful of single and EP releases on Sony Music Canada, she already has a big online following and multiple Airplay Chart hits. The artist, who hails from Saddle Lake Cree Nation, blends soulful R&B and pop hooks, inspiration from her Cree/Salish roots (her father is a founding member of acclaimed powwow group Northern Cree) and a deeply honest sensibility.
Last year, Wood joined Canadian star Shawn Mendes onstage in Vancouver in a duet to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Then, he came to visit her in Saddle Lake Cree Nation and meet and interact with the community directly. Beyond the industry accolades, the Juno-nominated artist is living her art the spirit that is in it. — R.T.
Fionn
Fionn are blowing up. Last October, the Vancouver twin sister duo’s track “Blow” scored their first No. 1 on the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart and it has remained on the chart for 42 weeks, finishing No. 12 on the year-end 2025 version of that chart. The anti-mansplaining anthem sat at the top for three weeks, as the gritty rock hit captured an eruption of pent-up frustration and sarcasm. Earlier this month, they scored their second hit on Modern Rock with “I Put My Makeup On,” a seething takedown on society’s perceptions of the beauty industry. Both come from their 2025 album, scum.
Signed to independent Vancouver label 604 Records, Alanna and Brianne Finn-Morris are part of the new wave of young female rock acts who are leading a genre wave in Canada, led by artists like 2025’s Billboard Canada Women of the Year, The Beaches. With unapologetic lyrics and an ethos that pulls from some of the same '90s rock influences that has infused life into the music of stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Fionn helps to usher in a collective of fearless women in the industry. — H.T.S
yung kai
After going viral with his covers on TikTok, yung kai had a bona fide hit last year with "blue," the lovelorn ballad that became a hit on YouTube, got a K-pop remix, was certified gold and became a hit across North America and Asia, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Chinese-Canadian artist is hitting the road to strike while the iron is hot, supporting his 2025 BMG-released album stay with the ocean, i'll find you throughout North America, including an April 9 date at the Mod Club in Toronto. That's been the site of some legendary Canadian acts on their way to the top, from The Weeknd to Daniel Caesar to Jessie Reyez. Could yung kai be the next? — R.T.
Valley
Valley have entered a new era. In 2023, the Toronto-based group went from a quartet to a trio after parting ways with a former band member. The major life change was a catalyst for the group’s fourth studio record, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden — which resonated with listeners. On Billboard Canada’s 2025 year-end Modern Rock chart, “Bass Player’s Boyfriend” and “When You Know Someone” landed spots at No. 10 and No. 25, respectively, and the title track has become a favourite on social media.
As the band has ventured from a polished pop sound into a more indie rock-leaning style, the group, which has been signed to Universal Music Canada since 2017, has united with Wednesday Management, led by manager Laurie Lee Boutet, who is known for helping artists like The Beaches connect with an authentic sound and fanbase. “It’s rare to find a band that’s been together this long and still pushes themselves creatively the way Valley does," she told Billboard Canada last year hinting that their new music is “some of their best yet.” — H.T.S
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