Pop stars Tate McRae and Justin Bieber lead the 2026 Juno nominations with six apiece, the show’s organizers announced on Tuesday. Following closely behind with five nominations are the Weeknd and first-time nominee Cameron Whitcomb, a country singer from Nanaimo, B.C.
Bieber and McRae will compete in several categories, as they are both up for the TD Juno Fan Choice Award, as well as album of the year, single of the year, artist of the year, songwriter of the year and pop album of the year. McRae is nominated for So Close to What, while Bieber is nominated for Swag II.
Prior to releasing 2025’s Swag and Swag II, Bieber hadn’t released an album since 2021’s Justice, and he hasn’t been nominated at the Junos since 2022. McRae won four Junos in 2025, including album of the year for Think Later.
A total of 225 nominees were announced for the 55th Juno Awards, which will be hosted by comedian-singer-actor Mae Martin in Hamilton on March 29. “I’m unbelievably honoured to be hosting the Junos this year. Canada’s biggest night in music! No pressure, just decades of iconic artists,” Martin said.
WATCH | The music video for Justin Bieber’s Juno-nominated song, Yukon:
The Weeknd and Whitcomb are both nominated for album of the year, single of the year and the TD Juno Fan Choice Award. Whitcomb also received nods for breakthrough artist and country album of the year, while the Weeknd is up for pop album of the year and artist of the year.
If the Weeknd wins all of his awards, he will surpass Anne Murray’s 26 wins to become the most awarded Junos recipient of all time.
Country singer Josh Ross and R&B star Daniel Caesar are both tied with four nominations, while bbno$, Jessie Reyez and the Beaches follow closely behind with three each. The Beaches, who are up for group of the year, have the chance to pull off a three-peat in that category, having won in 2024 and 2025.
Debby Friday, Saya Gray and more earn 1st Juno nods
This year, there are 156 first-time individual nominees, up from last year’s 117.
Whitcomb leads the first-timers with five nods, but several other country artists have earned their first nominations, among them Hofmann, Goldie Boutilier, Mariel Buckley and Sacha.
Among the first-timers are several artists who have received recent Polaris Music Prize recognition, including last year’s winner, Yves Jarvis, as well as Saya Gray, the OBGMs, and Lou-Adriane Cassidy, all of whom were shortlisted in 2025. Debby Friday, who won the prize in 2023, has earned her first two Juno nominations, one for electronic album of the year and the other for dance recording of the year.
WATCH | The music video for Lie Down, from Saya Gray’s Juno-nominated album:
Ontario artists lead again, Alberta sees increase in representation
In recent years, artists based in Ontario have made up the majority of Juno nominees. In 2025 it was 45 per cent, and this year it remains very close at 44 per cent.
Ontarians are nominated in most of the categories, including Justin Bieber’s multiple nods, Josh Ross for single, album and country album of the year, Aysanabee for contemporary Indigenous artist and contemporary album of the year, and Jessie Reyez for both traditional and contemporary R&B/soul recording of the year, as well as songwriter of the year.
WATCH | The live performance of Jessie Reyez’s Juno-nominated song, Goliath:
Quebec saw a decrease in representation, dropping from 20 per cent of total nominees in 2025 to 15 per cent this year. The province’s foothold on the electronic genre categories slipped, with just three artists — A-Trak, Debby Friday, Annie-Claude Deschênes — nominated compared to last year’s six.
Alberta saw a four per cent increase in its numbers, jumping 16 per cent of the total nominees, with McRae as the province’s most nominated artist. She’s joined by Hofmann, Jan Lisiecki, Nuela Charles, Brett Kissel, Ardn, among others.
WATCH | The music video for Tate McRae’s Juno-nominated song, Sports car :
British Columbia stayed almost par with 2025, with 13 per cent of this year’s nominees coming from the province. Whitcomb leads with his five nominations, and other nominees include bbno$, who won the 2025 TikTok Juno Fan Choice Award, Karan Aujla, who took home that same award in 2024, and AP Dhillon, who won the inaugural award last year for South Asian music recording of the year.
Manitoba saw a small increase from 3.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent of the list, thanks to nominations for Sebastian Gaskin, Begonia, William Prince and the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra.
The remaining provinces and territories make up a combined 6.5 per cent of the list. There are no nominees from Yukon or Prince Edward Island.
Percentage of women nominees largely unchanged
In 2025, men made up 48.5 per cent of the total nominees, which was a downward trend compared to previous years; they made up 57 per cent in 2024 and 56 per cent in 2023. This year, male solo and group acts inch a bit higher to represent 51 per cent of the list.
Women nominees have stayed quite close to 2025 numbers, making up 31.5 per cent of the list, compared to last year’s 32 per cent. The breakdown is rounded out with mixed-gender groups making up 16 per cent and non-binary and two-spirit artists making up 1.5 per cent. Any duos and groups with members of different genders (eg. Mother Mother, Toronto Symphony Orchestra) are counted as mixed-gender groups.
Looking deeper into the numbers, three categories include all-male nominees: recording engineer of the year, metal/hard music album of the year and South Asian recording of the year.
Only one woman is nominated for producer of the year, Winnipeg’s Karen Kosowski, while the inverse is true for traditional R&B/soul recording of the year, with Daniel Caesar as the only male nominee.
McRae is the only woman nominated for the TD Juno Fan Choice Award, and she is also the sole woman nominated in the single of the year and album of the year categories.
WATCH | The music video for the Beaches Juno-nominated song, Last Girls at the Party:
In 2025, the rock album of the year category saw its best gender parity showing in the 34-year history of the award. This year, the status quo returns with four out of the six nominees being completely male acts: Bryan Adams, grandson, the Blue Stones and Three Days Grace. The remaining nominees are Toronto all-woman band the Beaches and Montreal mixed-gender band the Damn Truth.
Country and pop artists dominate, new Latin category launches
In several of the major categories, such as album of the year and single of the year, pop and country are the only genres represented. A number of the breakthrough artist nominees are also a mix of country (Sacha, Whitcomb, Boutilier and Hofmann) and pop (Jutes, Sofia Camara, Mico and Yung Kai.)
WATCH | Cameron Whitcomb performs Juno-nominated song, Options:
This year, the Junos have introduced a new category: Latin music recording of the year.
The Latin music nominees are a mix of first-timers and previous Juno winners, as Isabella Lovestory, Andy Rubal and Mario Puglia have all earned their first Juno nominations. Alex Cuba previously won Junos for world music album of the year in 2006 and 2008, and is nominated in the new category, as is Lido Pimienta, who was nominated for best album artwork in 2024.
“This new category is a milestone for the Canadian music industry. It’s a well-deserved recognition of the incredible talent, diversity and cultural richness that Latin music brings to the Canadian soundscape,” said Martín Añón, co-chair of the category.
“By giving them a place on Canada’s biggest music stage, we’re not only celebrating their artistry, but we are also helping promote all domestic music into one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.”
CBC is the official media partner for the Juno Awards, and the show will be broadcast and streamed live across Canada from 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. AT on CBC-TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and on CBC Music’s YouTube page.
