Public voting for the 2026 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize has opened and the nominees are in. 

The companion award to the Polaris Music Album Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are also Canadian albums of artistic distinction, without regard to sales, genre or affiliation. This is our version of a hall of fame where we honour meritorious Canadian albums that predate when Polaris began in 2006. 

Two of this year’s 12 nominated albums will receive the Heritage Prize designation. One album will be chosen by public vote campaign, and a second will be determined by a Heritage Prize jury made up of music media and music historians.

The 2026 Polaris Heritage Prize-nominated albums are: 

Annihilator – Alice in Hell 

Les Colocs – Les Colocs 

Richard Desjardins – Tu m’aimes-tu 

Willie Dunn – Willie Dunn 

Mort Garson – Mother Earth’s Plantasia 

Sarah Harmer – You Were Here 

k.d. lang & the Reclines – Absolute Torch and Twang 

Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark 

Muzion – Mentalité moune morne (Ils n’ont pas compris)

Rough Trade – Avoid Freud 

Various – Kwakiutl: Indian Music of the Pacific Northwest 

The Watchmen – McLaren Furnace Room 

Go HERE to vote. 

The albums from Mort Garson, Sarah Harmer, k.d. Lang, Joni Mitchell and Rough Trade have made the finalist pool of previous Heritage Prize juries. The albums from Annihilator, Les Colocs, Muzion, Willie Dunn, Richard Desjardins, The Watchmen and the Kwakiutl anthology are all receiving their first Heritage Prize nominations. Mitchell has received a previous Heritage Prize designation in 2015 for her 1971 album, Blue. 

Heritage Prize balloting officially opened on Wednesday, August 5. Voters will be able to submit ballots once per day until voting close on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT. For the second consecutive year the two new Heritage Prize designations will be revealed live at the Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony, taking place Tuesday, September 22, at Massey Hall in Toronto. To celebrate the launch of this year’s Heritage Prize campaign Polaris is offering 15% off tickets to the event with the code POLARIS15.

Forty-three albums have received Heritage Prize designation since its introduction in 2015. Last year’s winners were Jane Siberry’s 1985 art pop album The Speckless Sky as selected by the Heritage Prize jury, and The Organ’s 2024 alternative noir record Grab That Gun chosen by public vote. Other past winning albums include Leonard Cohen’s Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Skinny Puppy’s Bites, Dream Warriors’ And Now The Legacy Begins, Lhasa de Sela’s La Llorona and Cowboy Junkies’ The Trinity Session. 

CBC presents the 2026 Polaris Music Prize. The Slaight Family Heritage Prize was created in partnership with the Slaight Family Foundation. This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada, and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. It is supported by SiriusXM Canada, Ontario Creates, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, and the Slaight Family Foundation.

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https://tidal.com/playlist/83905af3-4d79-4156-a692-d96ab6685897

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