We are excited to announce the 2026 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize Longlist!
Our jurors have selected these titles as the top ten books published this year on Canada, Canadians, or Canada’s place in the world. Pick up any of these books to learn more about a fascinating aspect of the country we call home.
We will share more about each of these fantastic titles before naming our shortlist on September 28th and our winner on October 13th.
Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross. Challenging Exile: Japanese
Canadians and the Wartime Constitution. UBC Press.
Marcello Di Cintio. Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers. Biblioasis.
Peter Kuitenbrouwer. Maple Syrup: A Short History of Canada’s Sweetest
Obsession. Doubleday Canada.
Allan Levine. The Dollar a Year Men: How the Best Business Brains in
Canada Helped to Win the Second World War. Barlow Books.
Kevin G. Lynch and James R. Mitchell. A New Blueprint for Government:
Reshaping Power, The PMO, and the Public Service. University of Regina
Press.
Greg Mercer. The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for Seafood on the
Brink. McClelland & Stewart.
Dennis Molinaro. Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s
Secret War Against Canada. Random House Canada.
Martha Paynter. Lawless: Abortion Under Complete Decriminalization.
Fernwood Publishing.
John Sandlos and Arn Keeling. The Price of Gold: Mining, Pollution, and
Resistance in Yellowknife. McGill-Queen’s Press.
Karin Wells. Women Who Woke Up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed
Women’s Rights in Canada. Second Story Press.