Canada Reads 2026

2026 Winner
📗 The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor championed by Musician and writer Tegan Quin

2026 Contenders
📘 A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt championed by filmmaker and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
📘 Searching for Terry Punchout by Tyler Hellard championed by Hockey YouTube personality and podcaster Steve (Dangle) Glynn
📘 Foe by Iain Reid championed by Broadway actor and kids TV host Josh Dela Cruz
📘 It's Different This Time by Joss Richard championed by BookTok star Morgann Book

Canada Reads 2017 (✔️)

📗 2017 Canada Reads winner was Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis, defended by spoken word artist Humble The Poet.

The other 2017 contenders were:

📘 Company Town by Madeline Ashby, defended by Measha Brueggergosman
📘 The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, defended by Chantal Kreviazuk
📘 Nostalgia by M.G. Vassanji, defended by Jody Mitic
📘 The Break by Katherena Vermette, defended by Candy Palmater

Canada Reads 2018 (✔️)

📗 2018 Canada Reads winner was Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, defended by fashion journalist and broadcaster Jeanne Beker.

The other 2018 contenders were:

📘 The Boat People by Sharon Bala, defended by Mozhdah Jamalzadah
📘 American War by Omar El Akkad, defended by Tahmoh Penikett
📘 Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson, defended by Greg Johnson
📘 The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, defended by Jully Black

Canada Reads 2025 (✔️)

Canada Reads 2020 (✔️)

📗 2020 Canada Reads winner was We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib, defended by actor Amanda Brugel.

The other 2020 contenders were:

📘 Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles, defended by Alayna Fender
📘 Radicalized by Cory Doctorow, defended by Akil Augustine
📘 Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson, defended by Kaniehtiio Horn
📘 From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle, defended by George Canyon

Canada Reads 2021 (✔️)

📗 2021 Canada Reads winner was Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead, defended by actor Devery Jacobs.

The other 2021 contenders were:

📘 The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk, championed by Rosey Edeh
📘 Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee, championed by Scott Helman
📘 Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi, championed by Roger Mooking
📘 Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, championed by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

Canada Reads 2022 (✔️)

📗 2022 Canada Reads winner was Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, defended by Christian Allaire.

The other 2022 contenders were:

📘 Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez, championed by Malia Baker
📘 What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad, championed by Tareq Hadhad
📘 Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller, championed by Suzanne Simard
📘 Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, championed by Mark Tewksbury

Canada Reads 2023 (✔️)

📗 2023 Canada Reads winner was Ducks by Kate Beaton, defended by Jeopardy! super-champ Mattea Roach.

The other 2023 contenders were:

📘 Greenwood by Michael Christie, defended by actor Keegan Connor Tracy
📘 Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah, defended by Bhangra dancer Gurdeep Pandher
📘 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, defended by TikTok creator Tasnim Geedi
📘 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, defended by actor Michael Greyeyes

Canada Reads 2024 (✔️)

2024 Canada Reads winner was The Future by Catherine Leroux and translated by Susan Ouriou, defended by Heather O'Neill.

The other 2024 contenders were:

📘 Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, defended by athlete and CBC Sports contributor Dallas Soonias
📘 Denison Avenue by Christina Wong & Daniel Innes, defended by former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi
📘 Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, defended by fashion influencer Mirian Njoh
📘 Shut Up You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji, defended by actor Kudakwashe Rutendo

Canada Reads 2019 (✔️)

Winner 2019

📗 By Chance Alone by Max Eisen, championed by science journalist and broadcaster Ziya Tong, was the 2019 Canada Reads winner

Contenders 2019

📘 Homes by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung, championed by Chuck Comeau
📘 Brother by David Chariandy, championed by Lisa Ray
📘 Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated by Rhonda Mullins, championed by Yanic Truesdale
📘 The Woo-Woo by Lindsay Wong, championed by Joe Zee

Canada Reads 2016 (✔️)

📗 2016 Canada Reads winner was The Illegal by Lawrence Hill, championed by Olympian Clara Hughes.

The other 2016 contenders were:

📘 The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami, defended by Vinay Virmani
📘 Birdie by Tracey Lindberg, defended by Bruce Poon Tip
📘 Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz, defended by Farah Mohamed
📘 Minister Without Portfolio by Michael Winter, defended by Adam Copeland

Canada Reads 2015

2015 Canada Reads winner was Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman, defended by the Toronto International Film Festival's artistic director, Cameron Bailey.

The other 2015 contenders were:

📘 Intolerable by Kamal Al-Solaylee, defended by Kristin Kreuk
📘 ​The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, defended by Craig Kielburger
📘 When Everything Feels like the Movies by Raziel Reid, defended by Elaine "Lainey" Lui
📘 And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins, defended by Martha Wainwright

Canada Reads 2014

2014 Canada Reads winner was The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, defended by journalist, broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew.

The other 2014 contenders were:

📘 The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, defended by Stephen Lewis
📘 Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, defended by Donovan Bailey
📘 Cockroach by Rawi Hage, defended by Samantha Bee
📘 Annabel by Kathleen Winter, defended by Sarah Gadon

Canada Reads 2013

2013 Canada Reads winner was February by Lisa Moore, defended by comedian Trent McClellan.

The other 2013 contenders were:

📘 The Age of Hope by David Bergen, defended by Ron MacLean
📘 Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan, defended by Jay Baruchel
📘 Away by Jane Urquhart, defended by Charlotte Gray
📘 Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, defended by Carol Huynh

Canada Reads 2012

2012 Canada Reads winner was Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre, defended by musician Shad.

The other 2012 contenders were:

📘 On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini, defended by Stacey McKenzie
📘 The Game by Ken Dryden, defended by Alan Thicke
📘 Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat, defended by Arlene Dickinson
📘 The Tiger by John Vaillant, defended by Anne-France Goldwater

Canada Reads 2011

2011 Canada Reads winner was The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis, defended by journalist and broadcaster Ali Velshi.

The other 2011 contenders were:

📘 The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou, defended by Georges Laraque
📘 Essex County by Jeff Lemire, defended by Sara Quin
📘 The Birth House by Ami McKay, defended by Debbie Travis
📘 Unless by Carol Shields, defended by Lorne Cardinal

Canada Reads 2010

2010 Canada Reads winner was Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler, defended by writer and columnist Michel Vézina. It also won the Governor General's Literary Award for translation in 2008.

The other 2010 contenders were:

📘 The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy, defended by Samantha Nutt
📘 Generation X by Douglas Coupland, defended by Cadence Weapon
📘 Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott, defended by Simi Sara
📘 Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, defended by Perdita Felicien

Canada Reads 2009

2009 Canada Reads winner was The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, defended by filmmaker and journalist Avi Lewis.

The other 2009 contenders were:

📘 Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards, defended by Sarah Slean
📘 The Outlander by Gil Adamson, defended by Nicholas Campbell
📘 Fruit by Brian Francis, defended by Jen Sookfong Lee
📘 The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay, translated by Sheila Fischman, defended by Anne-Marie Withenshaw

Canada Reads 2008

2008 Canada Reads winner was King Leary by Paul Quarrington, defended by musician Dave Bidini.

The other 2008 contenders were:

📘 Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley, defended by Zaib Shaikh
📘 ​From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant, defended by Lisa Moore
📘 Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, defended by Jemeni
📘 Icefields by Thomas Wharton, defended by Steve MacLean

Canada Reads 2007

2007 Canada Reads winner was Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill, defended by musician John K. Samson.

2007 was the "all-star" edition of Canada Reads, the five defenders were the previous champions.

The other 2007 contenders were:

📘 Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis, defended by Steven Page
📘 The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani, defended by Donna Morrissey
📘 Children of My Heart by Gabrielle Roy, translated by Alan Brown, defended by Denise Bombardier
📘 Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor, defended by Jim Cuddy

Canada Reads 2006

2006 Canada Reads winner was A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, defended by musician John K. Samson. It also won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.

The other 2006 contenders were:

📘 Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, defended by Nelofer Pazira
📘 Deafening by Frances Itani, defended by Maureen McTeer
📘 Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets by Al Purdy, defended by Susan Musgrave
📘 ​Cocksure by Mordecai Richler, defended by Scott Thompson

Canada Reads 2005

2005 Canada Reads Winner was Rockbound by Frank Parker Day, defended by author Donna Morrissey.

The other 2005 contenders were:

📘 Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, defended by Olivia Chow
📘 Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen, defended by Molly Johnson
📘 Volkswagen Blues by Jacques Poulin, translated by Sheila Fischman, defended by Roch Carrier
📘 No Crystal Stair by Mairuth Sarsfield, defended by Sherraine MacKay

Canada Reads 2004

2004 Canada Reads winner was The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe, defended by musician Jim Cuddy.

The other 2004 contenders were:

📘 Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, defended by Glen Murray
📘 The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro, defended by Measha Brueggergosman
📘 The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle by Monique Proulx, translated by David Homel and Fred A. Reed, defended by Francine Pelletier
📘 Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler, defended by Zsuzsi Gartner

Canada Reads 2003

2003 Canada Reads winner was Next Episode by Hubert Aquin, translated by Sheila Fischman, defended by journalist and broadcaster Denise Bombardier.

The other 2003 contenders were:

📘 Sarah Binks by Paul Hiebert, defended by Will Ferguson
📘 The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys, defended by Mag Ruffman
📘 The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston, defended by Justin Trudeau
📘 Life of Pi by Yann Martel, defended by Nancy Lee

Canada Reads 2002

2002 Canada Reads Winner was In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje, defended by musician Steven Page.

The other 2002 contenders were:

📘 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, defended by Kim Campbell
📘 Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke, defended by Nalo Hopkinson
📘 The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, defended by Leon Rooke ​
📘 A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, defended by Megan Follows