The JUNO Awards and CARAS-associated charity is sustaining music education with systemic intervention and a mission to provide music education for all kids

MusiCounts is making history with a massive investment in Canadian music education. 96 schools across the country will receive funding totalling $1.4 million via the MusiCounts School Music Funding Programs. This is the charity's largest investment to date.

“Every year, we hear from teachers working to deliver meaningful music education with extremely limited resources, some with annual music budgets of $500 or less to serve hundreds of students,” says Regan Harney, MusiCounts Executive Director. “With budgets stretched this thin, schools often have to focus their resources on maintaining instruments that have already been in use for many years, leaving little room to expand or enhance their programs. A MusiCounts grant of $15,000 to $20,000 can be transformative: it can help establish a full K–6 elementary music program, purchase concert band instruments that will serve students for years to come, introduce culturally connected programming, or bring new technology into the classroom. These investments give educators more tools to engage students and help young people build practical, transferable skills through music.”

The team at MusiCounts is focused on building funding momentum at a time when Canadian school boards and universities are navigating significant financial pressures and competing priorities. To date, MusiCounts has allocated nearly $22 million in musical instruments and resources in every province and territory.

Harney adds, “We’re celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2027, and we’re honoured to be able to demonstrate the monumental impact of MusiCounts' work over the last three decades. An enriching music education does more than develop musical ability; it helps young people build the emotional well-being, interpersonal skills, and capabilities they need to thrive in life and work. Nurturing the future of the Canadian music industry via an arts education can result in more jobs and economic growth - ultimately, communities thrive where there is music education. We need this now, more than ever.”

This year, Manitoban performing arts school teacher Madly Friesen and the students at Faraday School in Winnipeg’s North End received a MusiCounts School Music Funding Programs grant of $18,000 in support of the teacher’s mission to develop the school’s general music education program. “This grant fuels the imagination and the experience the kids can have,“ says Friesen. “I want to build a class so amazing that the students can’t wait to come in from recess.”

The 56th Annual JUNO Awards will be hosted from Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, MB on April 4, 2027, where the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award winner will be announced on Broadcast,live on CBC TV, CBC Gem, and globally on CBC Music’s YouTube.

Applications for the 2027 MusiCounts School Music Funding Programs are now open. To learn more about MusiCounts or how to make a donation, visit musicounts.ca.

2026 MusiCounts School Funding Recipients

*indicates funding through the MusiCounts Slaight Family Foundation Innovation Fund, indicating a tech-forward or culturally-relevant approach to music education being funded

Alberta

École Brentwood Elementary - Strathmore

École Mother d'Youville - Beaumont

Elmer S. Gish School - St. Albert

Falconridge School - Calgary

Griffin Park School - Brooks

Gwynne Valley Rural Academy - Gwynne

Kipohtakaw Education Centre - Rivière Qui Barre

Spruce Avenue Junior High - Edmonton*

Steinhauer School - Edmonton

Sundance School - Calgary

British Columbia

Abbotsford Traditional School - Abbotsford*

Bear Creek Elementary - Surrey*

Brookside Elementary School - Surrey*

Connex (SD42 Alternate Secondary) - Maple Ridge*

Houston Secondary School - Houston*

Łuwechōn Kots’ede’i Kime - Iskut

N'kwala School - Douglas Lake*

Nootka Elementary - Vancouver

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School - Hagensborg

Steeples Elementary School - Cranbrook

Valleyview Secondary School - Kamloops

West Boundary Elementary School - Rock Creek

Whistler Secondary School - Whistler*

Manitoba

Faraday School - Winnipeg*

MacGregor Collegiate Institute - Macgregor

Ochre River School - Ochre River

Sergeant Tommy Prince School - Scanterbury*

New Brunswick

École Grande-Rivière - Saint-Léonard*

École Notre-Dame - Notre-Dame

École Univers Jeunesse - Bertrand

Fundy Middle and High School - St. George*

Sussex Middle School - Sussex*

Newfoundland and Labrador

Acreman Elementary - Green's Harbour

Bayview Academy - Saint George's

Brother Rice Junior High - St. John's

Crescent Collegiate - South Dildo*

Dunne Memorial Academy - St. Mary's

Nova Scotia

Antigonish Education Centre - Antigonish

Bridgewater Junior High School - Bridgewater*

Humber Park Elementary School - Lake Loon

Pictou Landing First Nation School - Trenton*

Thorburn Consolidated School - Thorburn

Northwest Territories

Chief Sunrise Education Centre - Hay River*

École William McDonald Middle School - Yellowknife

Ontario

Beverley Heights Middle School - Toronto

Christ the King Catholic Secondary School - Halton Hills

Courtice Intermediate - Courtice

Dorset Park Public School - Toronto

Dundas Valley Secondary School - Hamilton*

East Garafraxa Public School - Orangeville

Eastdale Secondary School - Welland

École élémentaire catholique Saint-Joseph, Wendover - Wendover

Etobicoke Collegiate Institute - Toronto

Fallingbrook Middle School - Mississauga*

Gateway Public School (TDSB) - Toronto

Greenbriar Middle School - Brampton*

Hagersville Secondary School - Hagersville

Harbord Collegiate Institute - Toronto*

Huntington Ridge Public School - Mississauga

Indian Creek Road Public School - Chatham

JF Carmichael Public School - Kitchener

Lisgar Collegiate Institute - Ottawa

Lisgar Elementary School - Hamilton

Lucy McCormick Senior School - Toronto*

Queen Elizabeth Public School - Peterborough

Queenston Drive Public School - Mississauga

Roseland Public School - Windsor

St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School - Kitchener

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Secondary School - Milton

St. Oscar Romero Catholic Secondary School - Toronto

St. Paul Catholic Elementary School - Lakefield

St. Thomas More Catholic Elementary School - Toronto

Stewart Avenue Public School - Cambridge

Sunnyside Public School - Kitchener

Superior Heights CVS - Sault Ste. Marie

Twentieth Street Junior School (Toronto District School Board) - Toronto

West Bayfield Elementary School - Wasaga Beach*

West Credit Secondary School - Mississauga*

Westdale Secondary School - Hamilton

Westminster Woods - Guelph*

Quebec

École Des Moulins - Saint-Félix-de-Valois

École Isummasaqvik - Quaqtaq

École Notre-Dame-d'Etchemin - Lévis

École Saint-Joseph - Val-d'Or

École secondaire Le Filon - Chapais

École secondaire Massey-Vanier - Cowansville

James Lyng High School - Montréal*

Lake of Two Mountains High School - Deux-Montagnes*

Pierrefonds Community High School - Montréal

Pitakallak - Kuujjuaq*

Saint John Fisher Senior Elementary School - Pointe-Claire*

Saskatchewan

Judge Bryant School - Regina*

Midale Central School - Midale

Wesmor Public High School - Prince Albert

Yukon

Jack Hulland Elementary School - Whitehorse

Programme Confluence - Dawson City

For media inquiries:

en: Talya Macedo, tm@sentialstudio.com

fr: Flavie Grisé-Falcon, fgf@sentialstudio.com