Do you know these 2025 Canadian Grammy nominees?

The 2025 Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 2, and a number of Canadians are up for gramophones. Previous Grammy winners such as Kaytranada, the Weeknd and Yannick Nézet-Séguin have nods this year, but several lesser-known nominees are also in contention for trophies on music's big night.

A number of Canadian songwriters and producers are behind some of 2024's biggest albums and hits — learn more about them below.

Idman

Known for their 2SLGBTQ+ activism and their 2023 EP, Risk, Toronto R&B singer Idman was one of CBC Music's breakout artists in 2023 when they went viral with their hit "Hate." The song was interpolated by English singer-songwriter Jacob Collier on the track "Mi Corazón," from his album, Djesse Vol. 4, which is up for the Grammy for album of the year. As a co-writer on the track, Idman marked their first Grammy nod with this work and reflected on the nomination in an Instagram post: "Congratulations to @jacobcollier on his album and this enormous nomination," they wrote. "Grateful to be able to say we contributed to this work and honoured to be acknowledged in this way by the recording academy." 

Lowell

Before Calgary pop singer, songwriter and producer Elizabeth Lowell Boland was penning hits for Beyoncé and winning SOCAN awards, she worked as a songwriter for Tate McRae, the Beaches, Charli XCX and more — in addition to putting out three albums of her own. But Boland, who works under the moniker Lowell, had a breakout moment last year when she contributed to Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter along with fellow Canadians Jack Rochon, Nathan Ferraro, Megan Bülow and Dave Hamelin. She earned several Grammy nominations due to being a co-writer on "Bodyguard," an upbeat, summery pop song that is up for best pop solo performance, and "Texas Hold 'Em," the first single from Cowboy Carter, which is nominated for best country song, record of the year and song of the year. 

"I'm feeling a bit numb right now," she told the Toronto Star. "But I suppose that's probably a defence mechanism trying to protect myself from the small possibility we didn't get nominated."

She previously earned a Grammy nod in 2024 for co-writing Madison Beer's song "King of Everything," from her album Silence Between Songs, which was nominated for best immersive audio album. 

Sara Diamond

Montreal pop singer-songwriter Sara Diamond has been singing since she was a child, making her debut with the group Kidzup and then later performing with Clique Girlz in 2009. She released three EPs of her own — Foreword, IDK and SaraX — before sharing her songwriting talents with American singer Coco Jones, whose single "Here We Go (Uh Oh)" is nominated for best R&B song. When the track was released in May 2024, Diamond wrote, "Coco, you are incredibly talented, and seeing you work is a treat. Thank you for everything," on Instagram. Diamond was previously nominated for her songwriting on "Fallin" from Jones's EP What I Didn't Tell You, which earned a nod for best R&B album in 2023.

Aaron Paris

"Whenever I'm making things, I feel like the drive comes from just wanting to make something really good and to make something that feels like [it] has never been made before," Aaron Paris recently told George Stroumboulopoulos in his Apple Music Up Next interview. The Toronto producer, composer and violinist's catalogue is proof positive of that drive: while Paris founded Strings of Paris, a Toronto string collective that hopes to break down barriers between classical musicians and contemporary music, he has also worked with Drake and Kanye West. Previously Grammy-nominated for his collaboration with Drake and DJ Khaled ("No Secret") as well as his work with 6lack, as of 2025 Paris can call himself a six-time Grammy-nominated artist: he just added nods for his work with Ariana Grande (Eternal Sunshine), Kehlani (Crash) and Idles (Tangk). He's still focusing on his own music, though: Paris recently released Lotusland, a project recorded over two days in Toronto's St. Andrew's Church with a full orchestra.

Jack Rochon

Jack Rochon was on fire in 2024, and is reaping the rewards at this year's Grammys. He's up for four awards across categories: album of the year and best country album for Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, best progressive R&B album for Kehlani's Crash and best engineered album, non-classical for Charlotte Day Wilson's Cyan Blue. Cowboy Carter is the most nominated album at this year's Grammy Awards and Rochon worked on four of its songs: "Protector," "Jolene," "II Hands II Heaven" and "Dolly P." He took to Instagram to share what the experience meant to him: "I'll never forget the first time hearing Beyoncé's voice on one of my songs, or the day I met Ryan at Parkwood and we made 'Protector' that same afternoon." He continued: "It has been a life-changing experience working on this music, and I'm so grateful to be a part of this incredible body of work." 

Rochon has over a decade of production work under his belt, working with fellow Torontonians Daniel Caesar, Lu Kala, Loony, Savannah Ré and Sean Leon. He's now based in Los Angeles and has worked with Charlie Puth, Snoh Aalegra, H.E.R., 6lack and French Montana — and it seems that long list of collaborators will continue to grow as he racks up noms.

Charlotte Day Wilson

Charlotte Day Wilson has been outspoken about how important producing and engineering her own music has been since the start of her career. "There needs to be more women producers in this industry. I want all of the young girls to start learning how to use Logic and Ableton," she told Teen Vogue in 2016. Every release she's presented to the world has her fingers all over the technical side of things, from her debut EP, CDW, to 2024's Cyan Blue. That work has paid off tenfold, as this year she nabbed her first Grammy nomination — for best engineered album, non-classical. She shares the nomination with her good friend Rochon and posted on Instagram saying the album was engineered with "love, care and so much affection." Day Wilson has been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize twice and has received a number of Juno Award nominations, including producer of the year in 2021, but this marks her first major award outside of Canada.

Scott Zhang

SZA's double-platinum single "Saturn" was a collaborative effort between the R&B star, Carter Lang, Rob Bisel, Jared Solomon — and Toronto's very own Scott Zhang.

Zhang built a name for himself as a leading voice in 2010s indie pop under the moniker Monsune, with tracks "Nothing in Return" and "Outta My Mind." Although he hasn't released any solo music since 2019, he's been steadily growing his production and songwriting repertoire, with additional credits for Foushée, Drake and Luna Li. After SZA's "Saturn" was released in February 2024, Zhang took to Instagram to thank Lang and Bisel "for making it happen" and Solomon for his "drum sensibility." Zhang has production, composition and songwriting credits on the track, and was responsible for the lush keys that create the song's atmospheric texture. He continued his caption, saying: "Love this song [and] these people. Love [you] sza thank [you] for serving." The song marks Zhang's first Grammy nomination, for best R&B song — not a bad achievement for his fourth time ever writing and producing for another artist.