Polaris Music Prize Announces 2026 Long List at NXNE

The waiting is over.

The long list for the 2026 Polaris Music Prize was announced yesterday (June 11) at NXNE. The announcement was made at the NXNE Artist House in Toronto and featured a number of current and previous nominees in attendance.

The annual 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 of music critics, journalists and curators after a series of grand jury presentations and debate sessions.

In total, 202 albums were considered for the long list by the 205-member jury this season.

The album long list reveal is the first major announcement of the Polaris season. The 10 finalist albums on the Polaris Prize short list will be named on July 9, and the Polaris Music Prize winner will be honoured at the Polaris concert and award ceremony at Massey Hall, Toronto, on Sept. 22.

The 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).

The album also features newcomers like Angine de Poitrine, arguably the biggest band in Canada right now, who this week made a surprise appearance at Billboard Canada Power Players to accept the Global Breakthrough Award.

2026 Polaris Music Prize Long List

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

Watch the announcement below: