Tate McRae performs at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press
At the Juno Awards industry ceremony at the Hamilton Convention Centre on Saturday, there was no “elbows up” and no “Canada down.” Instead, things went sideways at the event where most of the trophies were handed out in advance of Sunday’s nationally televised gala held at TD Coliseum.
Calgary dancer-turned-singer Tate McRae dominated, winning four major awards, including artist of the year. In prevailing over heavyweights Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, her victories were statements. Unfortunately, the statement was this: “We accept the Juno on her behalf.”
Not only didn’t the 22-year-old Sports Car singer not show up to collect her hardware, but she failed to even provide a pre-prepared video or statement acknowledging the wins. Should the Canadian music industry be offended? Not really.
Because McRae, an international superstar who first attracted attention as a contestant on the American reality television series So You Think You Can Dance in 2016, is not really part of the Canadian music industry. She came up musically through the YouTube ranks (which recognizes no borders) and signed to a U.S. label, RCA Records.
Tate McRae leads Junos with four big wins, despite not attending ceremony
McRae did not attend the 2025 Junos in Vancouver, where she won four times. She did perform at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards in New York, where she gyrated, flipped her hair and sang in a beach setting. This weekend she kicks sand in Junos’ face.
McRae is up for Sunday’s fan choice award, as are Bieber and the Weeknd. Neither of them is expected to attend the gala either. Like McRae, they are not products of the domestic music industry − for the most part, they’ve always operated at an international level.
As such, the Juno juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. None of the Big Three were going to make the trip to Hamilton when losing out to the others was a distinct possibility. Losing a Grammy nomination is one thing; losing face at the Junos is another.
Who can forget the 2011 Junos in Toronto? Drake can’t, that’s for sure. The hometown, 6ix-representing hip hop icon hosted that year but failed to convert any of his half-dozen nominations into trophies. He’s boycotted the show ever since; his last nomination was in 2017.
What to watch for at the 2026 Juno Awards
In 2011, U.S.-based Neil Young was invited north to accept an award for his philanthropy. To his apparent surprise, he won the prize for artist of the year too.
“It’s just totally incomprehensible that I’m here,” he said, accepting the statuette. “But it’s a great honour. Thank you very much everybody. I really appreciate it. O Canada!”
On the same night, a 17-year-old Bieber won the first two Juno Awards of his career. Because the teen idol from Stratford, Ont., was overseas, he thanked the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences via video message.
“I want to thank everybody so much for believing in me,” he said. “Most of all, I want to thank my mom for raising me in Canada…”
McRae’s no-show this year should be considered a mild surprise, given the Juno love she was shown last year and considering the controversy caused when she promoted the U.S. Olympic team for an NBC promotion just a month ago. She took to social media to defend herself, writing, “Y’all know I’m Canada down.”
Do we though?
On Sunday, another Albertan who made her career south of the border, Joni Mitchell, will be in Hamilton to accept the Junos’ lifetime achievement award. On her 1971 song A Case of You, she sang, “On the back of a cartoon coaster, in the blue TV screen light, I drew a map of Canada − oh, Canada.”
One wonders what happened to that map. Somebody could use directions.