The 2016 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 19, 2016 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The hosts of the gala were broadcasters Tom Power and Amanda Parris.
The ten-album shortlist was announced on July 14.
The prize's preliminary 40-album longlist was announced on June 15 at the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse, Yukon. It includes the 10 shortlisted albums above, as well as the following 30.
In August 2016, for the first time in the history of the awards the Polaris committee released the full list of all 232 albums that had received at least one vote in the preliminary balloting.
Nominees for the Polaris Heritage Prize, a separate award to honour classic Canadian albums released before the creation of the Polaris Prize, were announced at the main Polaris gala. The shortlists for the Heritage Prize were increased to ten nominees, from five in 2015, and two winners were named: one selected by the jurors and one selected by an audience vote. The winners were announced on October 24.
Public: Neil Young, After the Gold Rush
Jury: Leonard Cohen, Songs of Leonard Cohen
The Band, Music from Big Pink
The Band, The Band
Robert Charlebois and Louise Forestier, Lindberg
Gordon Lightfoot, Lightfoot!
Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark
The Oscar Peterson Trio, Night Train
Jackie Shane, Jackie Shane Live
Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Public: Rush, Moving Pictures
Jury: Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Bruce Cockburn, Stealing Fire
D.O.A., Hardcore '81
Fifth Column, To Sir With Hate
Glenn Gould, Bach: The Goldberg Variations
Martha and the Muffins, This Is the Ice Age
Jackie Mittoo, Showcase Volume 3
Rough Trade, Avoid Freud
Leroy Sibbles, On Top
Public: Blue Rodeo, Five Days in July
Jury: Mary Margaret O'Hara, Miss America
Dream Warriors, And Now the Legacy Begins
Maestro Fresh Wes, Symphony in Effect
Daniel Lanois, Acadie
Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Main Source, Breaking Atoms
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill
John Oswald, Plunderphonics
The Tragically Hip, Fully Completely
Public: Arcade Fire, Funeral
Jury: Lhasa de Sela, La Llorona
Bran Van 3000, Glee
Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It in People
Constantines, Shine a Light
The Dears, No Cities Left
Destroyer, Streethawk: A Seduction
Esthero, Breath from Another
Feist, Let It Die
k-os, Joyful Rebellion
