2016 in Canadian music

The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in 2016 in music in Canada.

Events

 * April 3 – Juno Awards of 2016
 * April 17 – Final concert by the influential folk-rock band Spirit of the West.
 * April – East Coast Music Awards
 * May 15 – Prism Prize presented.
 * May 24 – The Tragically Hip announce that lead singer Gord Downie has been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.
 * June 15 – Preliminary longlist for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize is announced.
 * July – SOCAN Songwriting Prize is presented.
 * July 14 – Shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize is announced.
 * July 22 – The Tragically Hip play the first date of their Man Machine Poem Tour in Victoria, British Columbia.
 * August 20 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts The Tragically Hip's concert at the K-Rock Centre in their hometown of Kingston, which may be the band's last-ever live concert due to Gord Downie's cancer diagnosis, as a live cross-platform broadcast on CBC Television, CBC Radio One, CBC Radio 2, CBC Music and YouTube.
 * September 19 – Kaytranada's album 99.9% is named the winner of the Polaris Music Prize.
 * December 3 – 12th Canadian Folk Music Awards

Bands disbanded

 * Nomeansno
 * Spirit of the West

A

 * AHI, We Made It Through the Wreckage
 * Alaskan Tapes, We All Speak in Poems
 * Altameda, Dirty Rain
 * Ammoye, Enter the Warrioress
 * Amylie, Les Éclats
 * Matt Andersen, Honest Man – February 26
 * Ancient Shapes, Ancient Shapes
 * Tafari Anthony, Die for You
 * Anvil, Anvil Is Anvil – February 26

B

 * Badbadnotgood, 'IV' – July 8
 * Jason Bajada, Volcano – February 12
 * Matthew Barber and Jill Barber, The Family Album – April 1
 * Alexis Baro, Sugar Rush
 * Bobby Bazini, Summer Is Gone
 * Bear Mountain, BADU – September 9
 * Daniel Bélanger, Paloma - November 25
 * Art Bergmann, The Apostate – May 13
 * The Besnard Lakes, A Coliseum Complex Museum – January 22
 * Black Mountain, TBA
 * Jean-Michel Blais, Il
 * Bleu Jeans Bleu, Franchement wow
 * Blue Moon Marquee, Gypsy Blues
 * Blue Rodeo, 1000 Arms – October 28
 * Will Bonness, Halcyon
 * Brasstronaut, Brasstronaut – November 11
 * Alysha Brilla, Human
 * Jim Bryson, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place – February 12
 * Basia Bulat, Good Advice – February 12
 * The Burning Hell, Public Library – April 1

C

 * Brendan Canning, Home Wrecking Years – August 12
 * Charlotte Cardin, Big Boy
 * Jazz Cartier, Hotel Paranoia
 * Tanika Charles, Soul Run – May 10
 * Classified, Greatful – January 15
 * Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
 * Jason Collett, Song and Dance Man – February 5
 * Antoine Corriveau, Cette chose qui cognait au creux de sa poitrine sans vouloir s'arrêter
 * Crown Lands, Mantra
 * Lori Cullen, Sexsmith Swinghammer Songs

D

 * Dead Obies, Gestamtkunstwerk – March 4
 * Del Barber & the No Regretzkys, The Puck Drops Here
 * Art d'Ecco, Day Fevers
 * Devours, Late Bloomers
 * Céline Dion, Encore un soir – August 26
 * The Dirty Nil, Higher Power – February 26
 * Gord Downie, Secret Path – October 18
 * Drake, Views – April 29

E

 * Earle and Coffin, Live at the Citadel House

F

 * The Flatliners, TBA
 * Luca Fogale, Safety
 * Fond of Tigers, Uninhabit – October 7
 * Fresh Snow, ONE

G

 * The Garrys, Warm Buds
 * Karina Gauvin, Divine Karina – February 12
 * Hannah Georgas, For Evelyn
 * Matthew Good, I Miss New Wave: Beautiful Midnight Revisited – December 2
 * Aaron Goodvin, Aaron Goodvin
 * Great Lake Swimmers, Swimming Away

H

 * Harrison, Checkpoint Titanium
 * Ron Hawkins, Spit Sputter and Sparkle – March 25
 * Tim Hecker, TBA
 * Angela Hewitt, Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas – February 12
 * The Hidden Cameras, Home On Native Land
 * Matt Holubowski, Solitudes
 * Holy Fuck, TBA

I

 * Ice Cream, Love, Ice Cream

J

 * Sammy Jackson, Take Me Back
 * July Talk, Touch – September 9
 * Junior Boys, Big Black Coat – February 5

K

 * Kaytranada, 99.9% – May 6
 * Aidan Knight, Each Other – January 22
 * Koriass, Love Suprême
 * Chantal Kreviazuk, Hard Sail – July 17
 * Nicholas Krgovich, The Hills
 * Patrick Krief, Automanic – September 30

L

 * Land of Talk, TBA
 * k.d. lang with Neko Case and Laura Veirs, case/lang/veirs
 * Salomé Leclerc, Live au Treatment
 * Little Scream, TBA
 * Les Louanges, Le Mercure

M

 * The Maddigans, No Place Like Here – April 4
 * Ria Mae, Ria Mae – June 3
 * Magic!, Primary Colours – July 1
 * Majid Jordan, Majid Jordan – February 5
 * Kate Maki, Head in the Sand – May 20
 * Dan Mangan, Unmake – June 17
 * Carolyn Mark, Come! Back! Special!
 * Shawn Mendes, Illuminate
 * Dylan Menzie, Adolescent Nature
 * Millimetrik, Fog Dreams
 * Ryland Moranz, Hello New Old World

N

 * Nap Eyes, Thought Rock Fish Scale
 * Sarah Neufeld, The Ridge – February 26

O

 * The Oot n' Oots, Songs and Tales from the Great Blue Whale
 * Karim Ouellet, Trente – March 11

P

 * Dorothea Paas, No Loose Ends
 * PartyNextDoor, PartyNextDoor 3 – August 12
 * Philémon Cimon, Psychanalysez-vous avec Philémon Cimon
 * Lido Pimienta, La Papessa
 * Plants and Animals, Waltzed in from the Rumbling – April 29
 * Protest The Hero, Pacific Myth – November 18

R

 * Radio Radio, Light the Sky – February 19
 * Allan Rayman, Hotel Allan
 * Corin Raymond, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams
 * Amanda Rheaume, Holding Patterns
 * River Tiber, Indigo - June 24
 * Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Whisky & Pine
 * Royal Canoe, Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit
 * Rum Ragged, Rum Ragged
 * Justin Rutledge, East – September 30
 * Serena Ryder, Utopia

S

 * Sam Roberts Band, Terraform – October 28
 * John K. Samson, Winter Wheat – October 21
 * SATE, RedBlack&Blue
 * Ségala, Plato Hess
 * Andy Shauf, The Party – May 20
 * Crystal Shawanda, Fish Out of Water
 * Shotgun Jimmie, Field of Trampolines
 * Simple Plan, Taking One for the Team – February 19
 * Dallas Smith, Side Effects - September 2
 * So Loki, V
 * Solids, Else
 * Souldia, Sacrifice
 * Rae Spoon, Armour – February 19
 * Frederick Squire, Spooky Action at a Distance – May 27
 * The Strumbellas, Hope – February 5
 * Sussex, Parade Day
 * Suuns, Hold/Still

T

 * Tanya Tagaq, Retribution – October 21
 * Tasha the Amazon, Die Every Day
 * Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death – June 3
 * Tory Lanez, I Told You – August 19
 * The Tragically Hip, Man Machine Poem – June 17
 * A Tribe Called Red, We Are the Halluci Nation
 * Tuns, Tuns – August 26

U

 * Un Blonde, Good Will Come to You

V

 * Mathew V, Sounds
 * Rosie Valland, Nord-Est
 * Venetian Snares, Traditional Synthesizer Music – February 20
 * Lindy Vopnfjörð, Frozen in Time – October 28

W

 * Martha Wainwright, Goodnight City
 * Frank Walker, Nocturnal
 * Dawn Tyler Watson, Jawbreaker!
 * Weaves, Weaves
 * The Weeknd, Starboy – November 25
 * White Lung, Paradise
 * WHOOP-Szo, Citizen's Ban(ne)d Radio
 * Wild Rivers, Wild Rivers
 * Wintersleep, The Great Detachment – March 4
 * Woodpigeon, TROUBLE
 * Royal Wood, Ghost Light
 * Donovan Woods, Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled – February 26
 * Roy Woods, Nocturnal – December 23
 * Roy Woods, Waking at Dawn – July 1

Y

 * Ken Yates, Huntsville
 * You Say Party, You Say Party – February 12
 * Your Boy Tony Braxton, Adult Contempt – July 15

Z

 * The Zolas, Swooner – March 4

Deaths
• January 3 – Paul Bley, jazz pianist

• January 14 – René Angélil, 73, entertainment manager (Celine Dion)

• February 3 – Brad Kent, musician (D.O.A., Avengers)

• February 6 –, singer

• February 15 – Vanity, 57, singer

• March 9 – Ray Griff, 75, country music singer and songwriter

• March 30 – Howard Cable, conductor, composer and arranger

• April 3 – Don Francks, 84, jazz vocalist and actor

• April 27 – Philip Kives, founder of K-tel

• June 4 – Bobby Curtola, 73, singer

• June 8 – Brian Rading, 69, bassist Five Man Electrical Band

• June 21 – Pierre Lalonde, singer and television host

• July 4 – William Hawkins, songwriter and poet

• July 9 – Geneviève Castrée, musician and comic book artist

• July 29 – Lucille Dumont, singer

• July 31 – Penny Lang, folk musician

• September 3 – Raymond Daveluy, composer and organist

• October 29 – Paul Demers, singer-songwriter

• November 7 – Leonard Cohen, singer-songwriter