Cannes Contenders 2026: Canada

An infamous one-liner from my hero, Judge Judy, is: “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.”

Unlike most kids my age, I’d rush home after school to watch her hold court. Judy’s blunt, often hysterical approach to adjudication had me spitting out my dang pizza pockets.

I’ve been given the opportunity to judge some of the best work to come out of Canada in the past year as possible Cannes contenders. So, I’m going to channel her sharp, no-nonsense approach, maybe some nonsense, but I promise I won’t be quite as judgey as Judy.

Simons Dress Yourself

Clothes are something you feel, not something you think. And somehow, Scouts Honour convinced the client not to overthink this beautifully simple approach.

The gen pub likely won’t clock this as an ad because there aren’t three ham-fisted RTBs in the first 10 seconds. But the work makes a clear statement: clothes need to connect with their person in order to come alive - they’re an artistic extension of who we are.

It sits in the same neighbourhood as some of my favourite Spike Jonze ads, like Kenzo World and Apple’s HomePod, with surrealism in service of feeling rather than spectacle.

The lack of a hard sell makes for an easy watch because it gives more to the viewer than it takes, which is exactly why you’ll be happy to see it again.

And securing the Fred Again track was pure target crack. Shout out to my fellow Zillennial Fred fans.

I appreciate a campaign with only two words in its name. Dress Yourself doesn’t need a manifesto, anthem or pointless filler words. And guess who else hates filler words? “Don’t say basically. Basically is a filler word.” - Judge Judy.

SkipTheDishes Writers Room

Whether it’s in the courtroom or on the big screen, tension is what makes a good story. This is a truth Judy has built an entire career around.

But what happens when a delivery app eliminates every problem before the plot can thicken?

This spot from Courage does celebrity right. Take notes, Pepsi... and most American celeb ads.

With The Studio fresh off an Emmy sweep, they took Canada’s sweetheart and created a story based on his world, style and sensibilities.

Borrowing from The Studio’s cinematic visual style and percussion-filled tension, they had the perfect vehicle to showcase all the unforeseen “negatives” that come with all the positives of skipping the hard part.

And unlike most celebrity ads, Seth and Evan didn’t just show up - they were in the writers room too.

Honourable mention: Skip Winter Fleet, which cleared roads while delivering the goods. We love a multi-tasker.

Childhood Cancer Canada Let’s Face The Unimaginable

A childhood cancer diagnosis is one of the hardest things to hear, so people reflexively say “I can’t imagine”, because it’s easier not to.

This campaign is a deliberate push past that avoidance.

Through intimate vignettes of real children and families in treatment, it forces you to sit with the financial, emotional and practical realities that follow a diagnosis.

Losing a job. Losing a home. Losing a child.

Full disclosure: this one’s ours. But I’d be saying the same things if it weren’t.

Childhood Cancer Canada receives around $2 million in donations annually. For the only national childhood cancer organisation in Canada, that number is almost as hard to say out loud as the diagnosis itself.

“The truth doesn’t change just because you don’t like it.” - Judge Judy.

IKEA Sleep Talkers

A classic “proof is in the padding”... Okay, no, let me try again - an innovative “mattressmonial”...

As someone who has become extremely distrustful of AI reviews after a particularly bad meal at The Cheesecake Factory, I found the humanness of these mattress reviews both charming and compelling.

In an era where everyone knows reviews are gamed or generated, leaning into an authentically human voice was simple and smart.

Rather than relying on arbitrary specs and sleep science, Rethink had real sleepers do the talking.

A great audio play has become a bit of a lost art, and Rethink just reminded everyone why it shouldn’t be.

They say radio is the theatre of the mind. Rethink made dreaming the theatre of IKEA mattresses.

Listening to these ads made me sleepy, in a good way.

And know what Judy would say to that? “Did you just yawn, you idiot?”