The most influential managers from across the globe gathered at SOUNDSTAGE in Toronto on June 11 at NXNE to celebrate Billboard Canada Managers to Watch. The celebration spotlighted the people who put in the behind-the-scenes work to elevate artists across the country following the release of this year's coveted Managers to Watch list.
“If you want to get something done, call the manager,” said Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski in his opening remarks. "You are the ones who are closest to the artists, the unsung heroes of the music industry. You have the vision and the tools to open doors and build careers, yet you are rarely in the spotlight yourselves."
In partnership with Music Managers Forum Canada, that organization's Trailblazer and Honour Roll awards were also presented. MMF Canada’s executive director, Amie Therrien, spoke about the organization’s influential work and highlighted their first-ever national music managers survey — set to be released later this year.
It was a celebratory evening, as this year’s ceremony honoured five managers. Billboard Canada honoured Daniel Caesar's longtime managers Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett with the Managers of the Year Award, Sébastien Collin won Manager on the Rise, highlighting Angine de Poitrine’s viral breakout, Yungblud’s manager Tommas Arnby was tapped for International Manager of the Year. MMF Canada also awarded Matt Maw with the Trailblazer Award and Six Shooter Records co-presidents Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton with the MMF Canada Honour Roll Award.
Many of music's biggest names were present to celebrate these influential industry figures making crucial moves behind the scenes, including some of Billboard Canada's 2026 Power Players like Universal Music Canada's president and CEO Julie Adam, ArtHaus founder and CEO Sandy Pandya and lawyer Angelika Heim.
Here are the highlights from Billboard Canada 2026 Managers to Watch x MMF Honour Roll.
Daniel Caesar Makes a Surprise Appearance to Honour His Managers
Daniel Caesar is one of the biggest Canadian success stories of the last decade, and he flew straight from Thailand to make a surprise appearance to honour the two powerhouses who have been with him on an adventure from the very beginning: his managers, Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans.
The R&B star recalled an anecdote about using the first sum of money he received from a grant application to buy his first apartment after being a “scruffy” kid couch surfing in Toronto. After three months of hanging around smoking weed with his then-girlfriend, he needed rent money, and his managers had his back.
“[Jordan], you probably had like $8,000 in your account, but I remember hearing that and I was like, ‘oh, this guy's f—ing rich, man.’" he said, while clutching a guitar. "It was an extremely embarrassing call, but they came through for me and I think about that day all the time. They were there for me and I felt very alone a lot of the time.”
He proudly invited both of his managers onstage to crown them Billboard Canada’s 2026 Managers to Watch, greeting each of them with a powerful, lasting hug and leaving Evans teary-eyed.
“We're in the middle of an adventure and I love it so much. If I could bottle up that feeling, I would pay every cent I have to give that feeling to the people I love,” Caesar said.
Daniel Caesar at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
2026 Managers of the Year Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans Come Full Circle at NXNE
Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans have had a whirlwind year since reuniting with Daniel Caesar for his recent album Son of Spergy, and the 2026 Managers of the Year reflected on how the era began at NXNE in Toronto last year, coming full circle at this year’s Billboard Canada Managers to Watch celebration.
“Exactly a year ago, we started this new journey that we're on, which is our fourth album,” Evans explained. “We had the pleasure of starting it with good people at Billboard Canada. We did a beautiful show at the Mod Club, which where it all started. That was the first Toronto show that [Daniel] did [in 2016]. It was a full circle moment, and I think that's been the theme of this whole era that we're in, coming back home.”
Burnett joked about his working relationship with Evans being “each other’s most successful relationship,” with the pair celebrating two decades of working together this year. He gave a special nod to Canadian producer Boi-1da for giving them their start in the industry back when they were producers, and boasted that nobody in the world can captivate a room like Daniel Caesar playing acoustic guitar, be it in a small room, an arena or even a stadium. He was proud to call Evans and Caesar his brothers and his family, and left the audience with words about what he considers to be the utmost principle of management: care.
“We learned everything because we cared about [Daniel], we cared about each other, we cared about the business, we cared about having integrity, we cared about doing a great job. We cared about making history. We cared about all the things, and that's why we're here. Care is so underrated. Nobody thinks to say that word, but if you care, everything else can be figured out,” Burnett concluded.
Matthew Burnett (left) and Jordan Evans at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
Sébastien Collin Celebrates the Incredible Rise of Angine de Poitrine
Sébastien Collin is the man behind the year’s biggest global breakthrough: the polka-dotted, viral math rock band Angine de Poitrine from Saguenay, Quebec. In just four months, Collin and the group have booked an international tour over 100,000 tickets worldwide and racked up over 16 million views on the band’s breakthrough KEXP live performance.
Collin is this year’s Manager on the Rise after orchestrating a red-hot rise for the most viral band in the world, and the tangible results are already monumental. Angine de Poitrine’s Vol. II vinyl was officially launched worldwide today (June 12), and their manager revealed that 200,000 copies were already sold ahead of the release date, with more than 30 record stores in the U.S. opening at midnight just to sell them.
“I think we can be proud of the music without compromise and I hope that it will help build bridges," he said. "I hope it will put some spotlight on the Quebec scene. We’ve got really nice bands right now, and I hope it will help us find the good bands everywhere."
Collin is on the journey with Angine de Poitrine while the whole world is watching. Their appearance at Billboard Canada Power Players 2026 to accept the Global Breakthrough Award earlier this week is the latest of their major viral moments, he noted.
The band and their manager have become the talk of the Canadian music industry, and you could feel that amongst the insiders in the room.
Sébastien Collin at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
Yungblud Manager Tommas Arnby Accepts the International Manager of the Year Award
From building Yungblud’s career in Europe and then helping him break through internationally as one of the world’s biggest new age rock stars, Tommas Arnby’s knack for understanding and creating an international footprint is undeniable. He won the Billboard Canada International Manager of the Year Award.
Arnby revealed that it was actually his second international manager award win of the year, joking that the previous one he won in California didn’t count because he felt it was “a mandatory exercise for me to get into America as a Dane without giving them Greenland.”
He thanked Billboard Canada for the honour, as well as his team and the artists, songwriters and producers he has the privilege of working alongside every day. Arnby voiced his pride in being able to bring people together with music, and how that can become a global force.
“I'm incredibly proud that I get to work in a business where you can lead in moving the needle of culture in some shape or form, and do something that moves people. And if there's a business off the back of that, that's great as well,” he shared.
Tommas Arnby at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton Break Down Their Top Ten Values of Music Management
Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton have driven the success of Six Shooter Records for over 25 years. The duo earned MMF's Honour Roll distinction, which recognizes outstanding career achievement and they gave an extensive speech breaking down the method behind their management approach.
For de Cartier and Burnett, the ten pillars of music management are partnership, art-driven decision making, having a holistic approach, life being too short to work with a--holes, community, celebration, tenacity and ambition, DIY, a hands-on approach and most importantly, stewardship. They extensively went through each value point by point as they celebrated their distinction.
Helen Britton (left) and Shauna de Cartier at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
Along with an extensive video tribute, Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay Goldstein of July Talk were there to present the award to the two winners. They said were unsure of how to come and present the MMF Honour Roll to Shauna de Cartier and Helen Britton, given they had welcomed their newborn just three weeks ago. Then, they remembered how de Cartier raised her children in the Six Shooter Records offices and balanced her work and personal life.
"And all the while, not a single grant deadline missed, every tour budget vetted and every record release approached with the same inventive spirit. They're people that don't compromise their career to be at home and they don't compromise their relationships with their incredible families on account of their career," Dreimanis explained. "As Shauna always says it, 'No compromising, just be awesome.'"
Living that advice, Goldstein made her remarks while nursing her newborn.
"Helen has helped us articulate and implement our value system as a band through hard work, learning, and questioning," Goldstein shared while holding her newborn onstage. "She's helped us navigate incredibly difficult situations with compassion and never guided us toward the easy exit. She's always up for a long chat, open to learning something new, never too proud to listen."
Peter Dreimanis (left) and Leah Fay Goldstein at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
Matt Maw Champions Indigenous and LGBTQ+ Rights
Matt Maw has helped to define the future of Indigenous music and was honoured with the Trailblazer Award. After departing Red Music Rising earlier this year — where he worked with Juno-winning artists like Sebastian Gaskin — the Billboard Canada 40 Under 40 honouree didn’t waste any time, kicking off a new venture spanning artist management, label services and consulting: SUPERCONNECTED. Its roster includes Gaskin, Wolf Saga, Miesha and the Spanks and Boogey The Beat, who called Maw “the greatest trailblazer on Turtle Island, and beyond,” in a series of video messages from artists and former colleagues prior to Maw taking the stage.
Maw extended his thanks to his peers Eric Lawrence, Rob Lanni, Devi Ekanand, Vel Omazic at Coalition Music, his growing management roster and his husband Dylan Doyle, who he proclaimed as the music industry's favourite husband.
"Given that it's June, I will leave you with this. Be gay, do crime, land back," he concluded at the end of his enthusiastic speech.
Matt Maw at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026Gabriel Di Sante
