Polaris Music Prize Announces 2026 Long List at NXNE
The contenders for the prestigious Canadian prize for album of the year have been announced. The nominees include Angine de Poitrine, Charlotte Cornfield, Kaytranada, PUP and more.
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:
- Angine de Poitrine, Rochelle Jordan, Peaches & More Make the Polaris Music Prize 2026 Short List | Billboard Canada ›
- Angine de Poitrine, Rochelle Jordan, Peaches et plusieurs autres artistes figurent parmi les finalistes du Prix de musique Polaris 2026 | Billboard Canada ›
- ‘Protect the Prize’: The Polaris Music Prize Undergoes Its Biggest Period of Change | Billboard Canada ›
- « Protéger le Prix » : le Prix de musique Polaris se réinvente à l’aube de sa troisième décennie | Billboard Canada ›
