Ontario music icons from Pickering, Ajax, up for seven JUNO Awards

Twelve-time JUNO winner Shawn Mendes of Pickering is up for four more baubles at the annual music awards show in Vancouver next month, with retiring Ajax pop punk band Sum 41 up for two honours and looking to close out their 29-year career with a bang.

Hill Kourkoutis, a Toronto-based record producer and engineer who was raised north of Mendes in the north Pickering hamlet of Greenwood, is also nominated for Recording Engineer of the Year.

Kourkoutis became the first women to ever win the prize in 2022 for her work on Uxbridge singer-songwriter Tania Joy’s ‘The Drought’ and SATE’s ‘Howler,’ which she also produced and co-wrote.

Record producer/engineer Hill Kourkoutis

This year she was nominated for her work on ‘Ghost’ (Sebastien Gaskin) and ‘Should We’ (Razzle).

Mendes is nominated once again for Artist of the Year (he won the award in 2019 & 2020), with his competition coming from Josh Ross and Tate McRae – who lead all nominations with five each – as well as The Weekend and Kaytranada.

Mendes is also up for Single of the Year for ‘Why Why Why’ and will face ‘Single Again’ by Ross and ‘exes’ by McRae, ‘Winning Speech’ by Karen Aujla and ‘Timeless’ by The Weeknd and Playboy Cart XO. A four-time winner of the TikTok Fan Choice Award (he won it in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022), Mendes will go for five in 2025 against bbno$, Dean Brody, Jade Eagleson, Ross, McRae, Karen Aujila. Les Cowboys Fringants, Preston Pablo and The Weeknd.

Shawn Mendes

The global pop star is also nominated for Pop Album of the Year for ‘Shawn’ and will look to win the vote against McRae’s ‘Think Later’ and records by Alexander Stewart (‘bleeding heart’), Jamie Fine (‘if this is it’) and Pablo (‘Anywhere But Here’).

Sum 41, who were honoured by the Town of Ajax earlier this month, is up for Group of the Year against Mother Mother, Spiritbox, Crash Adams and The Beaches; and for Rock Album of the Year for ‘Heaven 😡 Hell.’ Competition in this category will come from Big Wreck (’Pages’), JJ Wilde (‘Vices’), Mother Mother (‘Grief Chapter’) and NOBRO (‘Set Your Pussy Free’).

Sum 41 in Ajax

Sum 41 won the Group of the Year JUNO in 2003 and Rock Album of the Year in 2005.

The March 30 show at the Rogers Arena will feature an historic, last-ever performance by the Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductees.