It's official. The Junos are coming back to Hamilton in 2026

Canada's biggest nighttime successful euphony — the Juno Awards — is returning to Hamilton successful 2026, the seventh clip the metropolis is hosting the event, organizers announced Thursday.

Hamilton past hosted the Junos successful 2015 and volition erstwhile again honour the nation's apical philharmonic talent, with the 2026 Juno week moving from Thursday, March 26, to Sunday, March 29.

The week-long lawsuit volition culminate with the 55th Annual Juno Awards, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) said successful a quality release.

CARAS president and CEO, Allan Reid, said Hamilton's dynamic euphony country and affluent taste practice marque it "an perfect location" for the awards.

"We are thrilled to instrumentality to Hamilton and beryllium 1 of the archetypal events successful Hamilton's recently renovated downtown arena," Reid said successful the release.

"The metropolis and state of Ontario proceed to amusement their passionateness for euphony and the arts, we're looking guardant to 2026."

The announcement comes conscionable implicit a week earlier this year's Junos, which instrumentality spot connected March 30 at Vancouver's Rogers Arena, hosted by vocalist Michael Bublé.

Next year, Juno week events volition beryllium held astatine the recently transformed Hamilton Arena, which is scheduled to reopen successful precocious 2025.

According to the release, the arena volition beryllium upgraded with respective caller features, including premium seating options, "state-of-the-art acoustics," upgraded concourses and advanced accumulation capabilities for maximum efficiency.

Arena renovations 60% complete

"Hosting this prestigious grant amusement successful our soon-to-open venue volition showcase the unthinkable translation of the abstraction and besides the originative philharmonic vigor successful Hamilton and passim Ontario," said Nick DeLuco, Oak View Group elder vice-president and wide manager of Hamilton Arena, successful the news release.

Oak View's vice president of task management Ryan Zrenda gave CBC Hamilton a circuit of the arena connected Wednesday. The renovation has turned the full installation into a operation site, with 300 workers determination daily. 

The task is astir 60 per cent complete, Zrenda said. The renovation began successful May 2024, with EllisDon arsenic the main operation contractor. Oak View Group is an American institution that specializes in sports and amusement venues. 

In an interview, DeLuco said the extremity is to beryllium done by precocious November oregon aboriginal December. He said the Junos volition beryllium portion of an opening bid of events that volition incorporate "diverse contented and antithetic options." 

Longtime arena-goers volition beryllium "shocked" erstwhile they travel successful for the archetypal time, DeLuco said. "Everything connected the wrong is truly different."

For example, helium said, the renovation is opening up antecedently inaccessible spaces crossed precocious and little levels successful the arena, with the extremity of making it easier for radical to get successful and out, and to entree food, drinks and lounge spaces. The aged plan funnelled guests done 1 main route. 

Other highlights see peculiar container seats astatine level level, a caller creator lounge and different elevator, institution representatives said. 

The metropolis and local music and tourism promoters have been advocating for the awards to travel backmost to the metropolis since astatine slightest past summer. 

At a General Issues Committee gathering past July, Tim Potocic, founder of Sonic Unyon Records, supported the 2026 bid by the city's tourism department.

Events similar the Junos "add monolithic economical interaction … enactment the arts and the euphony sector,  showcase section talent, physique community, make bequest and they are a monolithic operator for the metropolis successful general," Potocic said astatine the meeting.

"They not lone bring economical interaction erstwhile they're here, but they besides permission economical interaction erstwhile they leave. They're immense for the section assemblage business, downtown concern passim the full city, our edifice country stays, and they're conscionable elephantine [economic] drivers.

"They make monolithic vibrancy and they're unthinkable for our full metropolis erstwhile we person these events," Potocic added.

'A large accidental for section talent' 

Juno week is also "a large accidental for section endowment to prosecute with national-level endowment erstwhile they're coming done town, and besides gives them a large accidental to play locally," Potocic said.

He noted that "Hamilton was the incubator, the archetypal metropolis that stepped up erstwhile the Junos changed their exemplary to the arena model." 

In January Mayor Andrea Horwath announced that Ontario was supporting the city's bid to big the awards.

"Our metropolis has a affluent and historical euphony country that has shaped Canada's taste scenery for generations and continues to thrive today," Horwath wrote connected societal media tract X.

"From legendary artists to rising stars, Hamilton has agelong been a hub of creativity and philharmonic excellence." 

The 2025 Juno Awards volition instrumentality spot connected March 30 astatine Rogers Arena successful Vancouver, and broadcast unrecorded connected CBC-TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen and globally on CBC Music's YouTube channel.