Preston Pablo, Nemahsis, Noeline Hofmann Finalists For the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame's 2025 Breakthrough Songwriter Award

The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) has announced the 2025 finalists of the Breakthrough Songwriter Award presented by the SOCAN Foundation with support from Amazon Music. The award celebrates the current achievements and bright futures of Canadian songwriters who are on an upward trajectory in their careers.

The list of finalists comprises six French-language and six non-French-language songwriters from across Canada, with each category recognizing one Breakthrough Songwriter winner.

The 2025 finalists in the Non-French Language category are: Chris LaRocca, Gus Van Go, Kayla Diamond, Nemahsis, Noeline Hofmann and Preston Pablo

In the French Language category for the Breakthrough Songwriter Award, the finalists are Billie du Page, Caroline Savoie, Étienne Fletcher, Rau_Ze, Valence and Virginie B.

Each winner will receive a $7,500 cash prize tied to a customized career development plan, and global exposure through Amazon Music resources and playlisting. In addition, the winners will be honoured during a special presentation at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Legends event in Toronto or Montreal this fall.

The public is invited to vote daily for their favourite songwriter, as the second round of jury voting gets underway. The top finalists were determined after a first round of voting by a juried panel of music industry professionals. Fans can now cast one vote per day here until September 16 at 11:59 pm ET. Each fan vote counts as a bonus vote toward their chosen nominee. Winners in both categories will be announced on September 18.

Past winners of this Award include Aaron Paris, Fredz, Eli Brown, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Mustafa, Ariane Roy, Charlotte Cardin, Jessie Reyez, Lowell and Les Louanges.

The 2025 finalists in the non-French language category are below, along with their bios via the CSHF.

Chris LaRocca: After paying dues on Toronto’s DIY scene with a math rock band, LaRocca transitioned from the stage to the studio, establishing himself as a sought-after producer and collaborator for major names like Kali Uchis, Summer Walker, Bryson Tiller, Russ and Stray Kids. He joined Grammy-nominated producer WondaGurl's Wonderchild roster and recruited the legendary Daniel Lanois on his recent LP dog years, coming Oct. 3.

Gus Van Go: Now based in Toronto, this producer, mixer, musician, and songwriter has worked with Metric, The Beaches, Arkells, Sam Roberts, Dear Rouge and Whitehorse, including co-writing and producing The Beaches viral single, “Blame Brett.” This year, he and his long time collaborator Lowell co-wrote four songs for buzz artist Baby Nova. This brought him to the attention of famed American record executive Mike Caren, who then signed van Go to APG (Artist Publishing Group) as a songwriter.

Kayla Diamond: She is a producer, songwriter, and label owner based in Montreal/Toronto/LA. A former law student turned charting solo pop artist, Diamond has since become a sought-after force behind the scenes, amassing 80M+ streams, global syncs (NBC, Netflix, etc.). As Canada’s youngest female label owner/producer (Kolossal Records/The Orchard), her credits include The Strumbellas, Dom Vallie, and Sofia Camara. Other achievements include a 2025 Juno nomination for Rap Album of the Year, a #1 CBC single, and scoring a scene in Rebel Wilson’s new film Bride Hard.

Nemahsis: She is a Palestinian-Canadian singer-songwriter whose powerful voice and personal storytelling explore identity, belonging, and the lived experience of being a hijabi Muslim woman. Her eclectic 2024 debut album Verbathim earned praise from Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Nemahsis has won two Juno Awards, including Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and was named Women In Music’s Artist of the Year.

Noeline Hofmann: This 21-year-old country artist hailing from Southern Alberta, Canada, is making waves rapidly. She was named one of Holler Country’s “New Country & Americana Artists for 2024″ and released her debut EP, Purple Gas, last year. It has reached over 100M+ global streams and Hoffman has reached over 1.1M monthly listeners on Spotify. She was chosen as an Amazon Music’s Artist To Watch 2025 and Apple’s Up Next Artist, and made her Grand Ole Opry debut a year ago.

Preston Pablo: A Juno Award winner, pop/R&B artist Pablo has scored over 172 million streams for his breakthrough hit “Flowers Need Rain” with multi-platinum producer-songwriters Banx & Ranx. He has a feature, “Admirin’ You,” on Karan Aujla’s highest-charting Punjabi album in Canadian history and a top 10 radio hit with “Dance Alone”. He has been working with such top producers as Rico Love, Ikky, Sammy SoSo, Euro, Milano and Nate Ferraro.