As International Women’s Day 2023 draws closer, Women In Music Canada excitedly shares the long list of nominees for the Women In Music Canada Honours. The Honours event will take place on March 8 at the Opera House in Toronto, where the recipients will be recognized and celebrated, alongside a reception style dinner and showcase of incredible performances. Tickets are available here. See below for the full long list of nominees.
Women in Music Canada (WIMC) is a registered non-profit organization and one of the largest music industry associations in Canada. The organization is dedicated to fostering gender equality in the music industry through the support and advancement of professionals and creatives at every stage of their career. The goal is to strengthen the social-economic balance of the music industry by providing professional development, support and resources for our community. Women in Music Canada hosts educational, career development and networking events alongside broader programming initiatives, industry engagement, research and advocacy to serve the needs of our diverse community. Our panels, seminars, webinars, workshops and performance serve to educate, empower, and celebrate women contributions to the music world, and strengthen community ties.
“I have been told often over that last few months that this recognition program has been needed for a long time,” says WIMC Executive Director, Robyn Stewart. “On behalf of the WIM Canada board, we couldn’t be more excited to recognize the long list today, and to bring the Canadian music community together to celebrate March 8th, on International Women’s Day. Thank you to all jury, all applicants, sponsors and funders for helping us bring this dream to reality. And above all, congratulations today to all of our long list.”
After receiving an overwhelming number of submissions for the inaugural program, the long list was selected by a jury of 22 professional Canadian music industry leaders and creators, appointed by Women in Music Canada, and represents the top submissions (not separated by category). The final honourees will be curated from the long list by a finalist jury.
Remarks one of the jury members who helped define the long list: “It was amazing to read about the incredible work of such a wide range of women — we rarely get opportunities to hand the women in our industry their flowers. This truly was an honour.”
The WIMC Honours program was designed to celebrate and support Canadian innovators and creators who have had outstanding success in their field in the eligibility year (December 2021 through December 2022 for annual based categories). Categories include: Artist of the Year (presented by Amazon Music), Distinguished Leader (presented by TuneCore), Entrepreneur of the Year (presented by Bandzoogle), Excellence in Live Music, International Leader of the Year, Organization of the Year, the Trailblazer Award, and the Women in Music Canada Honour Roll (presented by Spotify), which will honour up to 10 women and gender diverse industry members or artists who are on the rise. 2023 honourees will receive wonderful packages from gifting partners and woman-owned Canadian companies, Tiber River Naturals, Paris Jewellers, and Fielding Wines.
“WIM Canada thanks everyone who submitted themselves, their colleagues and their inspirations,” adds Stewart. “Our intention is to celebrate as many leaders as possible each year and we encourage all to watch for submissions for the 2024 edition coming this summer.”
The Honours reception dinner and awards presentation will be hosted by CBC’s Saroja Coelho, and will showcase an incredible group of artists performing throughout the evening. Supported by SiriusXM, performances will include rising country star, Sacha, producer, DJ and performer, Liliane Chlela; JUNO-nominated recording artist, songwriter and producer, Desiree Dawson; Cree and Salish singer and TikTok creator, Tia Wood; breakthrough singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sofia Camara; and decorated, multi-platinum recording artist, Fefe Dobson.
A special induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame will also be presented to multi-award winning, GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Loreena McKennitt, during the event.
2023 WOMEN IN MUSIC CANADA HONOURS:
Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Venue: The Opera House (735 Queen St E, Toronto)
Time: 6:00pm doors | 7:00pm Honours presentation begins
Tickets: $60 (early bird rate, until February 16) | $75 (after February 16)
Buy tickets here
LONG LIST NOMINEES:
Amanda Power – The Unison Fund
Amber Moyle – Polaris Music Prize
Anna Ruddick – The Unison Fund
Anne Stirk – Spotify Canada
Ashley Bieniarz – Songsmiths
Béatrice Martin – Bravo musique and Coeur de pirate
Carey Riley – Sony Music Canada
Charlotte Cardin
DeeDee Austin
Domanique Grant
Elise Roller – Misfit Music MGMT
Faryal Khan-Thompson – TuneCore
Fefe Dobson – 21 Entertainment Group Inc.
Fredericka Petit-Homme
Heather Gibson – National Arts Centre
Irish Mythen – Irish Mythen
Janna Sailor – Janna Sailor (Allegra Chamber Orchestra)
Jenn Ivanovs – Jives Management
Jessica Holtby – Seeka Sings
Jessica Lemmon – Lemmon Entertainment
Jessika Harling – JESSIA
Karen Kosowski
Katrina Kernaghan – TikTok
Lana Winterhalt – Good + Plenty Producer’s Club
Marilyne Lacombe – Mothland
Mary Beth Waldram – Laughing Heart Music
Monika Ouellet – Lazermortis
Nico Paulo
Nicole Auger – Indigenous Music Alliance
Nicole Alosinac – Nicole Alosinac Luthiery
Ryhna Thompson – Envision Management & Production
Samantha Pickard – Strut Entertainment
Sandy Graham – EMG
Shantel Noel – Spotify
Sharine Taylor – Independent / Bashy
Shauna de Cartier – Six Shooter Records
ShoShona Kish – Ishkode Records / Indigenous Music Alliance
Shumaila Hemani – Shumaila Hemani
Stacey Bedford – Bandzoogle
STONE AGE UG – STONE AGE ENTERTAINMENT
STORRY
Sunny Chen – Sad China
Tanika Charles
Tyler Tasson – Endemic Marketing
Yolanda Sargeant – Sargeant X Comrade
Thank you to the generous support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters, Ontario Creates, and the City of Toronto for their support of all WIM Canada International Women’s Day events. We also want to recognize our incredible Honours partners – Amazon Music, TuneCore, Bandzoogle, Spotify, Tiber River Naturals, Paris Jewellers, Fielding Winery, and Bacardi – all of whom are making it possible for us to launch this inaugural program recognizing and celebrating women identified artists and innovators across Canada.
As well as our federal, provincial and municipal partners, we want to thank workshop partners Universal Music Canada, Bandzoogle, CMRRA, ACTRA:RACS and the Canadian Independent Music Association for their support of the workshop series. You are leaders in developing talent in Canada and we thank you for your important role in the pathway to an equitable industry that we are committed to building.
If you are interested in supporting Women In Music Canada and the inaugural WIMC event, please contact Robyn Stewart at robyn@womeninmusic.ca.
Header Photo by Lechon Kirb on Unsplash
Nadia Elkharadly
Latest posts by Nadia Elkharadly (see all)
- Community Rocks – a party with a purpose this November - November 18, 2025
- The Weeknd Donates $350,000 to Hurricane Relief efforts in Jamaica - November 16, 2025