The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (the Federation) has announced the 2026 shortlist for the Canada Prizes/Prix du Canada, its annual national book awards recognizing inspiring, impactful, and transformative scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences. Five winners will be selected from this year's shortlist.
Selected by the Academic Council from works supported through the Federation's Scholarly Book Awards, the shortlisted titles reflect the depth and originality of scholarship being produced in Canada today, across English and French and by both first-time and previously published authors.
This year's winners will be announced on June 10, 2026, at the Federation's 30th Anniversary Gala: At the Inflection Point, at the Fairmont Macdonald in Edmonton, Alberta. The gala will take place during the Federation's Big Thinking Summit: Inflection Point, running June 9 to 11, 2026, at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
The Canada Prizes are made possible thanks to the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
2026 Canada Prizes shortlist
The 2026 Canada Prizes shortlist is here, featuring ten books that reflect the range and originality of humanities and social sciences scholarship in Canada today. Selected by the Academic Council from books supported through the Federation's Scholarly Book Awards, this years shortlist brings together titles in English and French by both first-time and previously published authors.
- Marie-Ève Bradette, Langue(s) en portage : Résurgence littéraire et langagière dans les écritures autochtones féminines (Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal)
- Edited by François Charbonneau and Michel Bock, Le moment Montfort dans la francophonie canadienne (University of Ottawa Press)
- Éléna Choquette, Land and the Liberal Project: Canada's Violent Expansion (UBC Press)
- Edited by Daniel Coleman, Ki'en Debicki, and Bonnie M. Freeman, Deyohahá:ge:: Sharing the River of Life (Wilfrid Laurier University Press) Scholarly Book Awards-supported open access chapters available.
- Patrick M. Condon, Broken City: Land Speculation, Inequality, and Urban Crisis (UBC Press)
- Dominique Garand, Anthologie du pamphlet et de la polémique au Québec de 1800 à 2000 (Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal)
- Stéphanie Nutting, Rumeur, potin et parole oiseuse dans le théâtre contemporain d'expression française (Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal)
- Susie O'Brien, What the World Might Look Like: Decolonial Stories of Resilience and Refusal (McGill-Queen's University Press) Scholarly Book Awards-supported open access chapters available.
- Marianne-Sarah Saulnier, Les femmes cobra : La danse comme espace de transgression des normes de genre au Rajasthan (Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal)
- Paul db Watkins, Soundin' Canaan: Black Canadian Poetry, Music, and Citizenship (Wilfrid Laurier University Press) Scholarly Book Awards-supported open access chapters available.
Five winners will be announced on June 10, 2026, at the Federation's 30th Anniversary Gala: At the Inflection Point, during the Big Thinking Summit.
For more information
200 - 141 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa Ontario
Canada K1P 5J3
www.federationhss.ca
