The 2020 edition of the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...

was presented on October 19, 2020. The longlist was announced on June 15, 2020, with the shortlist following on July 15, 2020 and the winner announced on October 19, 2020. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the traditional winner's gala did not take place this year, and instead a special cinematic tribute to the shortlist was streamed online by

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

and

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, following which the winner was announced. The award was won by

Backxwash Ashanti Mutinta, known professionally as Backxwash, is a Zambian-Canadians, Canadian rapper and record producer based in Montreal, Quebec. She is most noted for her 2020 album ''God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It'', which won the ...

for the album ''God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It''. The livestreamed presentation received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination for Best Live Production for Social Media at the

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 17–20 May 2021 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020. The presentations were held as a seri ...

Shortlist

The shortlist was announced July 15, 2020 in a radio special on CBC Music hosted by

Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe is a Canadian radio personality, currently a host on the CBC Music network as of October 2016. A graduate of the radio and television broadcast arts program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Tetteh-Wayoe worke ...

. Three of the shortlisted artists (

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

, and

Lido Pimienta Lido Pimienta (born 1986) is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, '' La Papessa'', won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.Jessie Reyez Jessica Reyez (born June 12, 1991) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her 2016 single, "Figures", peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100 and received triple platinum certification by Music Canada (MC) and platinum by the Recording Industry A ...

and

U.S. Girls U.S. Girls is a Toronto-based experimental pop project formed in 2007, consisting solely of American musician and record producer Meghan Remy.

Longlist

The longlist consists of 40 albums, chosen by a panel of 199 Canadian jurors. Eligible albums must have been released between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2020, although albums from May 2019 were considered if they didn't make the 2019 longlist.

Polaris Heritage Prize

Nominees for the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an award to honour classic Canadian albums released before the creation of the Polaris Prize, were announced on October 22. The winners of the public and jury votes were announced on November 16."2020 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Winners Named"
''FYI Music News'', November 16, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaris Music Prize 2020 in Canadian music 2020 music awards

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...