With Canada’s biggest night in music less than a week away, there’s plenty to discuss.
The JUNO Awards are Canada’s largest music honours, presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). On March 28, the Canadian music industry’s top performers, producers, and more will pack Hamilton’s TD Coliseum to conclude nearly a week of celebrations with the long-awaited awards ceremony. The show will be broadcast via the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC). Whether you’re an avid Canadian music fan or just tuning in for the first time, here are the hottest categories to watch at this year’s ceremony.
Album of the Year
The battle between pop and country music wages on, with country and folk LPs The Hard Way by Cameron Whitcomb and Josh Ross’ Later Tonight facing off against three records from Canadian titans of global pop: Tate McRae’s So Close to What, Justin Beiber’s SWAG II, and The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Off the bat, I think Daniel Caesar’s incredible album Son of Spergy was snubbed from this category, especially considering he’s up for Artist of the Year. His nominations for Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year and Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year seem stilted considering his project wasn’t nominated for the album category’s overall top prize, and are an unfortunate continuation of the JUNOs’ history of underrepresentation.
It’s also disappointing to see Bieber and The Weeknd nominated, as SWAG II in particular was critically panned. Hurry Up Tomorrow received mildly positive reviews, but its accompanying film by the same name currently holds just 14 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, marring the whole project.
McRae’s So Close to What is an excellent work of playful pop and is a nomination well-deserved. But with both McRae and Bieber reportedly skipping the JUNOs all together, it may be time to consider which Canadian musicians deserve these nominations, and which are only qualified through previous success and label prestige.
Artist of the Year
As mentioned, Caesar joins this category along with McRae, Bieber, and The Weeknd. An interesting final addition to this category is bbno$, whose self-titled 2025 album produced a plethora of TikTok audios from viral hits like “1-800” and “two.”
While I think this is a solid project and a positive sign of growth for bbno$, the strength of McRae and Caesar make them top contenders for this award. Perhaps bbno$ will take home the TD Fan Choice Award, for which he’s also nominated, given his online success Bieber and The Weeknd, frankly, stand no chance.
Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year
Last year, I wrote a fairly negative review of Goldie Boutilier’s pop-country effort Goldie Boutilier Presents… Goldie Montanawhich I stand by. However, as an artist, she deserves her flowers, having amassed over a million monthly Spotify listeners this year.
Other standouts in this category include Sofia Camara for her debut EP Hard to Love, approaching a Gracie Abrams-style sound that’s catchy and contemporary. Saya Gray’s production is top-notch, and her bold combination of jazz and soul-influenced sounds on SAYA hopefully marks good things to come from her.
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Whether you’re watching the ceremony live on CBC or scrolling social media for updates, there’s a lot to look forward to at this year’s JUNO awards. The wealth of domestic talent, especially in the breakthrough category, indicates positive directions for the future of Canadian music.
Tags
Awards, Canadian Music, Juno award, JUNOs, Music
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