The 2026 Canadian Car of the Year Awards semi-finalists announced by AJAC

The 12 Best Vehicles in Canada for 2026 to be revealed at the Montreal Auto Show on January 15, 2026

TORONTO, Dec. 1, 2025 /CNW/ - The semi-finalists for this year's Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY), presented by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), have been revealed. The list represents 20 of the best vehicles on sale in Canada competing across four Awards categories:

• Canadian Car of the Year
• Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year
• Canadian Electric Car of the Year
• Canadian Electric Utility Vehicle of the Year

Voting is underway by the jury, which comprises 50 expert AJAC journalists from across Canada. In a two-stage process, journalists first name their top five vehicles in each category. The jury then completes detailed ballots for the semi-finalists in each category.

Stage one of the voting is now complete and after collation of the votes cast, the semi-finalists have been named as follows:

The five semi-finalists for 2026 Canadian Car of the Year are:

• Honda Civic
• Hyundai Elantra
• Kia K4
• Porsche 911 Carrera
• Toyota Prius

The five semi-finalists for 2026 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year are:

• Ford Maverick
• Honda Passport
• Hyundai Palisade
• Subaru Forester
• Toyota RAV4

The five semi-finalists for 2026 Canadian Electric Car of the Year are:

• BMW i4
• Hyundai IONIQ 6
• Lucid Air
• Porsche Taycan
• Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

The five semi-finalists for 2026 Canadian Electric Utility Vehicle of the Year are:

• BMW iX
• Hyundai IONIQ 9
• Kia EV9
• Lucid Gravity
• Porsche Macan Electric

Every 2026 model year vehicle – almost 400 in all – is eligible for the CCOTY Awards, including those newly designed, recently refreshed, and carried over from the previous model year.

AJAC's expert jurors are based right across Canada, from Vancouver to Halifax. CCOTY is Canada's ONLY vehicle awards scheme in which the jurors drive every vehicle they vote on. Vehicles are tested on the same roads and in the same conditions faced by Canadian drivers from coast to coast every day.

"Announcing our semi-finalists is the first big step toward the 2026 Canadian Car of The Year Awards. Whether they take home the top trophy or not, the Canadian Car of the Year voting process makes sure that every one of these semi-finalist vehicles is a standout in their class", said AJAC's president, Evan Williams.

From this semi-finalist list, the 12 Best Vehicles in Canada for 2026 will be announced at the Montreal Auto Show on January 15, 2026. The 12 Best Vehicles in Canada for 2026 will be on display for the duration of the Montreal AutoShow from January 16-25, 2026. The Canadian Car of the Year Award winners will then be revealed on February 12 at the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) in Toronto. Results from AJAC journalist member ballots are audited by international accounting firm KPMG and remain under wraps until the moment the envelopes are opened.

The Canadian Car of the Year Award winners in each of the 4 categories will be on display at the major Canadian AutoShows in 2026:

Canadian International AutoShow Feb 13- 22, 2026
Quebec City AutoShow March 4-8, 2026
Calgary International AutoShow March 13-16, 2026
Vancouver International AutoShow March 25-29, 2026
Edmonton Motorshow April 9-12, 2026

About the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC)
The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) is an association of professional journalists, writers, photographers, videographers and corporate members whose focus is the automobile and the Canadian automotive industry. Collectively, our primary objectives are to promote, encourage, support, and facilitate professionalism in Canadian automotive journalism and to ensure factual and ethical reporting about the automobile and automotive issues to Canadian consumers. This is achieved through the work of our members and AJAC's vehicle testing and evaluation events: the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY), AJAC Innovation Awards and EcoRun.

About KPMG
KPMG LLP, an Audit, Tax and Advisory firm (kpmg.ca) is a limited liability partnership, established under the laws of Ontario, and the Canadian member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG has more than 7,000 professionals/employees in over 40 locations across Canada serving private- and public-sector clients. KPMG is consistently recognized as an employer of choice and one of the best places to work in the country. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

For further information: Evan Williams, AJAC President, T: 902-401-1784 E: [email protected]; Cindy Hawryluk, AJAC Managing Director, T: 905-978-7239 E: [email protected]