Canada Reads winner announced
Loghan Paylor’s novel The Cure for Drowning won CBC Canada Reads 2026 on April 16 after four days of debate under the theme “one book to build bridges,” with the title championed by musician Tegan Quin ( ). The win was declared on April 16, marking the 25th edition of the competition and adding a public‑facing boost to Paylor’s readership (quillandquire.com).
Loghan Paylor’s *The Cure for Drowning* won CBC’s Canada Reads 2026 on April 16 after the contest’s final elimination vote. (cbc.ca) The novel was championed by musician and writer Tegan Quin, and it beat Tyler Hellard’s *Searching for Terry Punchout*, defended by Steve “Dangle” Glynn, in the last round. (cbc.ca) Canada Reads ran from April 13 to April 16, with five celebrity panellists debating one Canadian book each under this year’s theme, “One Book to Build Bridges.” Ali Hassan hosted the four-day competition for the 10th time. (cbc.ca; cbc.ca) CBC called this the 25th edition of Canada Reads, a milestone for a program built around a simple format: one book is voted off each day until one title remains. The debates were carried on CBC Radio, CBC TV, CBC Listen, CBC Gem, CBCBooks.ca and CBC’s YouTube channel. (cbc.ca; cbc.ca) For Paylor, the result puts a debut novel at the center of one of Canada’s biggest public book campaigns. CBC and publishers have long treated Canada Reads as a national-reading contest that can push shortlisted books into wider library, classroom and book-club circulation. (cbc.ca; cbc.ca) *The Cure for Drowning* is a historical novel set around the start of the Second World War and centered on Kit McNair, a gender-nonconforming character in southern Ontario. Publisher Penguin Random House Canada describes it as a love story that centers queer and non-binary characters, while Paylor told CBC it follows lives upended in 1939. (penguinrandomhouse.ca; cbc.ca) The book arrived in paperback on January 30, 2024, and had already been longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize before this year’s Canada Reads run. Paylor, who grew up north of London, Ontario, is now based in Chilliwack, British Columbia. (penguinrandomhouse.ca; cbc.ca) The other 2026 contenders were *A Minor Chorus* by Billy-Ray Belcourt, *Foe* by Iain Reid, and *It’s Different This Time* by Joss Richard, alongside the two finalists. By the end of Thursday’s broadcast, Paylor’s novel was the one left standing. (cbc.ca; cbc.ca)
