Polaris Music Prize: 205 Best Albums of Canada Revealed

For the 21st time, presenting the Polaris Music Prize, recognized as the Canadian equivalent of the Mercury Prize, an authoritative jury selected the best albums of the year. The 205-member jury judged the recordings solely on their artistic value, without regard to genre boundaries or commercial success. Of the 202 albums released from April 2025 to May 2026 by Canadian artists (with citizenship or residence permit), 40 were selected. The longlist features works by such well-known artists as Kaytranada, Tanya Tagak, Dan Sneit (Daphni) and Peaches, as well as Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Peaches, who previously received the Polaris Heritage Prize. Interestingly, 10 artists on the longlist have already been on it before, another 13 on the shortlists of the Polaris Music Prize (as a result, the top 40 will be reduced to July 9), and 12 for the first time received the attention of the jury. Among them was Angine de Poitrine, whose work is Vol. "II" is considered one of the main favorites of the upcoming awards ceremony on September 22, and the long list features many more talented artists: Bibi Club, Les Louanges, Men I Trust and Rochelle Jordan.