Everything you need to know about Canada Reads 2026

Canada Reads 2026  testament occupy localize April 13 to 16. This year, the great Canadian book debate is looking for one book to change the narrative. 

Stories connect us to different people, places and perspectives. The collection of titles for 2026 showcases the power of storytelling to inspire, connect and grow — together.

On Canada Reads, five Canadian celebrities each select one book that all Canadians should read. They debate their choices over the course of four days, voting to eliminate one every day. The last book standing is the winner.

The 2026 contenders:

The debates will take place live at 10:05 a.m. ET. You can tune in live or catch a replay on the platform of your choice. You can see all the broadcast details here. 

The debates will be available to replay online each day. The livestream on YouTube will be available to watch outside Canada. 

It will air at 11:05 a.m. In Nunavut, the Maritimes, 1:05 p.m. In Labrador and at 1:35 p.m. In Newfoundland.

The debates will replay at 9 p.m. Local time in all time zones, except in Newfoundland, where they will replay at 9:30 p.m.

PODCAST: The episode will be posted each day after the live airing. You can download the episodes on the podcast app of your choice.

If you'd like the Canada Reads books in an accessible format, both CELA and NNELS provide books in audio, braille, print braille and text formats. You can find out which formats are available for each of the books here for CELA and here for NNELS. 

The Canada Reads books are available in print, e-book and audiobook format at your local bookstore or library of choice. You can use this link to find an independent bookstore near you. Audiobooks from Audible are now included on Amazon Music Unlimited, and all the Canada Reads titles are available here .

Learn more about the Canada Reads 2026 contenders below.

A Minor Chorus is a novel that follows an unnamed narrator who abandons his thesis and goes back to his hometown. While there, he has a series of conversations that bring modern queer and Indigenous experiences into focus.

"For me, the book was this really beautiful retreat in words to my own heart, humanity and spirit. It's a reminder that we have to speak to each other across the divide. We have to have real conversations with people who might not come from the same background as us — and have an understanding and an acceptance of others."

Billy-Ray Belcourt is a writer and academic from Driftpile Cree Nation in Alberta. Belcourt won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize for his first poetry collection, This Wound is a World. He is also the author of the memoir A History of My Brief Body, which was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction, and the short story collection Coexistence. He currently lives in Vancouver, where he teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

“I was compelled to depict the kinds of people and lived experiences specific to that region,” he said. “I wanted not to write about a singular character but a whole cast — or chorus — so that I could speak to an array of histories. I wanted, ultimately, to fill a gap in the literary landscape in Canada.”

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is a writer, director, producer and actor. She is a member of the Kainai First Nation (Blackfoot Confederacy) and is Sámi from Uŋárja (Nesseby, Norway).

She directed the film The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open, co-written with Kathleen Hepburn, the documentary Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, and three episodes of the limited series Little Bird from Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch.

Tailfeathers has had success as an actor as well, winning Canadian Screen Awards for her performances in Danis Goulet's Night Raiders and Rachel Talalay’s On the Farm. Her other acting credits include Three Pines, based on Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series, and Sterling Point, the upcoming series from Megan Park. 

Tailfeathers has also lent her voice to audiobooks, including real ones by katherena vermette, A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter and Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel. A current fellow in the TIFF Writers' Studio, she is based in Winnipeg.

In the novel Searching for Terry Punchout, Adam has one final chance to save his sports writing career: a shot at a Sports Illustrated profile of the notorious hockey goon, Terry Punchout. To complicate matters, Terry is Adam's estranged father, and writing this piece requires Adam to return to his small, Nova Scotia hometown and dredge up old feelings and frustrations.

As he spends more time with family and friends, he begins to realize that the sleepy town and people he left behind deserve more credit than he ever gave them.

"It's the protagonist building bridges between he and his father. It's him building bridges between he and his hometown. It's him building bridges between he and his past.

"What's really beautiful is it shows that you can still go home; it's never too late to fix the errors of the past."

"The books I’ve always loved the most are the ones I can kind of fall into — and when I’m finished I miss being with those characters for a few days. I’d be delighted if my novel does that for anyone."

Steve “Dangle” Glynn is the host of the Steve Dangle Podcast, a podcast that blends conversations about hockey with the latest in pop culture. A former analyst on Sportsnet, he's a popular YouTuber and broadcaster.

Glynn also co-founded SDPN, a network of eight sports podcasts, and captivates audiences with his rants and hot takes.

Based in Ajax, Ont., he's written two books: This Team Is Ruining My Life (But I Love Them): How I Became a Professional Hockey Fan and Hockey Rants and Raves. 

The Cure for Drowning is a historical fiction novel that follows Kit McNair, who was born Kathleen to an Irish farming family in Ontario — but they don't fit in with the expectations set out for them. When Rebekah, a German Canadian doctor's daughter comes to town, she, Kit and Kit's older brother, Landon, find themselves in a love triangle that tears their families apart. All three of them separate and join different war efforts but all eventually return home — and are each forced to move on with their lives.

"It's so far and few between that you see that kind of representation. And it is just such a good book and it's such a great story. I love that it's a sibling story. I love that it's a love triangle. I love that it's queer."

"I also wrote this for my queer forebears, to show how they lived full, interesting and complex lives that amounted to so much more than a footnote in a history book.

"Most of all, I wrote this novel because I was tired of consuming media in which transgender people were portrayed as a tragic curse of nature, or as half-formed things denied the fullest joys of family, love and connection."

"I wanted to read a story where being queer, being gender-non-conforming, and being trans was a source of supernatural strength and courage."

Tegan Quin is one half of the pop-indie twin duo Tegan and Sara, who have released 10 studio albums and sold more than a million records over the course of their career.

Tegan and Sara have received multiple Juno and GLAAD awards for their music as well as a Governor General's Performing Arts Award. They have been nominated for many Grammy and Polaris Prize awards.

Tegan and Sara are also the authors of the memoir High School and the middle-grade graphic novel duology Tegan & Sara: Junior High, illustrated by Tillie Walden. They were executive producers on the television series based on the memoir.

In addition to the music, writing and producing, they also started the Tegan and Sara Foundation to support and invest in 2SLGBTQ+ communities, which earned them the Humanitarian Award at the 2024 Junos.

Quin grew up in Calgary and currently lives in Vancouver.

The speculative thriller Foe takes place in an old, isolated farmhouse in the not-so-distant future. The house is inhabited by Junior and his wife, Henrietta, and their peaceful lives are interrupted by the arrival of a man in a business suit. Junior has been randomly selected for a scientific program and will be leaving home for the indefinite future, while his wife stays home with a companion.

The shock of this announcement, coupled with his increasingly distant wife and the intruder's vague explanations, sends Junior into a tailspin as he races to figure out what's really going on.

"There's nothing wrong with being interested in politics or being interested in current events. But sometimes you need a break," he said.

"I think that you're going to be able to find that within Foe, where you are able to scratch that itch and discover a world that's not so different from your own, but also to see other aspects of it where you feel completely satisfied."

Iain Reid is the author of memoirs One Bird's Choice and The Truth About Luck and the novels I'm Thinking of Ending Things and Foe, which was made into a movie starring Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan. His third novel, We Spread, was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Reid lives in Kingston, Ont.

"I'd attended an award ceremony and something about the acceptance speech, the way the recipient thanked his wife, and how he implied she was always there to support him, felt unsettling," said Reid.

"It made me think about the risks we face when we take someone, or something, we hold dear for granted. I started thinking about that type of relationship, where certain narratives are written within the relationship that are confining. That's what I wanted to write about."

Josh Dela Cruz is an actor, singer and dancer. Born in the United Arab Emirates and raised in New Jersey, he is now a Canadian permanent resident living in Toronto.

He spent five seasons hosting the Emmy-winning children's show Blue's Clues and You and starred in the movie Blue's Big City Adventure of the same franchise.

His theatre credits include playing Aladdin in Aladdin on Broadway, and most recently, starring in Theatre Group Asia's production of Into The Woods alongside theatre superstar Lea Salonga.

Dela Cruz helped develop the Tony-winning musical Maybe Happy Ending and has played roles in  Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Fubar, Bull and Time After Time. He has a BFA in musical theatre from Montclair State University.

It's Different This Time is a romance novel about an actor named June Wood. When her TV show gets cancelled, she's got no excuse not to follow up on the mysterious email that invites her back to the New York City brownstone where she lived before moving to Los Angeles. The house was left to her and her former roommate, Adam, by the previous owner.

The expensive property will soon be theirs — they just have to live together for four weeks while they finish the paperwork. One catch: June and Adam haven't spoken in five years and aren't on great terms. 

"I think [we] can relate to these kinds of people while still feeling really good about this romance and escaping into this beautiful New York setting."

Joss Richard is a writer, editor and social media director. She's worked at companies like Reese's Book Club and Netflix. She created and hosts the podcast Three's Company, Too and has won a Daytime Emmy Award. Born in Toronto, she lives in Los Angeles. It's Different This Time is her debut book.

"I wondered if time heals, if we really do get wiser, and if love is something that ever really goes away."

Morgann Book is one of Canada's biggest book content creators, with 2.6 million followers on TikTok and nearly 140,000 on Instagram.

As someone who loves great stories, recommending books and good conversation, she hosts the podcast Off The Shelf where she interviews authors about what drives their work.

Book is also the founder of Bookish Media, a production company that develops and creates book-related media. She curates The Bookish Club, a global monthly book club that brings together readers across the world.

Book was also recently announced as part of Reese Witherspoon's 2026 talent incubator.

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