Awards and Accolades

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage that result from accidents on Canadian roads.

To qualify for 2026 Top Safety Pick+, a vehicle must earn a good rating in the small overlap front test, no less than acceptable in the updated moderate overlap front test and a good rating in the updated side test. It also must earn no less than acceptable ratings for headlights standard and in the pedestrian front crash prevention test.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage that result from accidents on Canadian roads. IIHS has been a leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle crashes from happening in the first place and to minimize injuries in the crashes that do occur.

To qualify for 2026 TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the small overlap front test, moderate overlap front test and side test. It also must earn no less than acceptable ratings for headlights (standard availability) and in the pedestrian front crash prevention (standard availability).

The J.D. Power Canada ALG Residual Value Awards are the automotive leasing industry standard when it comes to recognizing the vehicles segments that are projected to hold the highest percentage of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) after a four-year period for mainstream vehicles, and after a three-year period for premium vehicles. This is a vital consideration for car buyers when assessing the total cost of ownership for a particular vehicle whether the vehicle is financed, leased or purchased with cash. This year’s recipients have shown strong forecasted value in their competitive segments in the Canadian market for the mainstream and premium segments.

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit jdpower.com/business

Canadian Black Book has been a staple of the automotive industry and a trusted source for used car values for over 50 years. Canadian Black Book makes new and used car values available to consumers by assessing vehicle trade-in value, future value and average asking price.

Canadian Black Book presents the winners of our 2026 Best Residual Value Awards. These awards project the residual values anticipated in 2030. The much-desired awards track vehicle values over a four-year period, with our analysts scouring hundreds of thousands of sales transactions and other data points from live auctions, online auctions, dealership and other proprietary sources. Prizes are awarded to those vehicles that hold the highest percentage value of their original MSRP.

To judge contenders for the award, MOTOR TREND's editorial staff conducted an exhaustive three-phase testing process. Phase one includes a full tech check and weigh-in, then full track testing to establish baseline data for acceleration, braking, and handling. Phase two involves three days of road loops offering a range of road surfaces and traffic conditions to evaluate ride and handling, engine and transmission smoothness and responsiveness, wind and road noise, and ergonomics. A dirt-track section tests traction, stability, and braking control systems. In the third phase the judges debate and deliberate.

The judging criteria includes the following categories:

• Design Advancement - well-executed exterior and interior styling; innovative vehicle packaging; good selection and use of materials.
• Engineering Excellence - total vehicle concept and execution; clever solutions to packaging, manufacturing and dynamics issues; cost-effective tech that benefits the consumer.
• Performance of Intended Function - how well the vehicle does the job its planners, designers, and engineers intended it to do.
• Efficiency - low fuel consumption and carbon footprint, relative to the vehicle's competitive set.
• Safety - a vehicle's ability to help the driver avoid a crash, as well as the secondary safety measures that protect its occupants from harm during a crash.
• Value - competitive price and equipment levels, measured against those of vehicles in the same market segment.

The evaluation process for the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY) is based on "real-world" back-to-back testing so that the results have relevance for consumers.

Vehicles are evaluated across 21 parameters including performance, safety, and usability.

In other words, the rigorous testing program includes "real world" driving on public roads – exactly where consumers drive - so that the test, and vote, results are relevant to potential car and truck buyers.

Every member of a test team compares each vehicle in its class, back-to-back, on the same roads, under the same conditions to ensure objective evaluation.

Team members use a detailed rating form, comprising 21 separate evaluation parameters that include acceleration, braking, vehicle dynamics, maneuverability, even off-road capability, where applicable. Each parameter is rated using a prescribed 0 – 10 rating scale.

Every detail, from safety features to cargo capacity, is thoroughly scrutinized, discussed, and individually rated by secret ballot. Those ballots are then tabulated by the international accounting firm KPMG. The results are kept confidential — even from AJAC — until the awards press conferences wherein the category and overall winners are announced.

The Car Guide’s Best Buys

The Car Guide is the largest automobile publication in Quebec. No fewer than 95,000 copies of this 672-page tome are printed each year as its technical articles are often used for reference, while test drives put specs into perspective from an impartial standpoint. To better inform its readers, the Guide now also determines and awards winners in several categories. To earn a place among the Best Buys, a car or utility vehicle must be evaluated on strict criteria in the categories of price, styling, fuel consumption, comfort, performance, maintenance costs, daily drivability, reliability and resale value among many others. After independent evaluations take place, an editorial consensus is made to determine category winners View details

Auto123.com Awards

Auto123.com is Canada's leading automotive web portal for news, reviews and independent road tests. It was created for informed drivers and car enthusiasts alike by a dynamic team of specialized journalists, columnists and multimedia professionals.

The Auto123.com Awards considers all cars which are sold and available in Canada prior to the awards' ceremony. Throughout Canada, a panel of contributors and staff members test drive cars on a regular basis and this allows them to vote and dole out points to their favourite cars in each of the 20 vehicle categories. This results in naming the best of the best, regardless of whether the model is all-new or a few years old. View details

autoTRADER.ca Awards

At autoTRADER.ca, we’re committed to being a trustworthy source of advice and we hope everything we do will help Canadians become more confident in their car-buying journey.

autoTRADER.ca looks at awards through a car buyer’s perspective. That’s why every single new car that is available for Canadians to buy today is eligible for an award — that means we consider and evaluate more than 350 models! Other awards only look at cars that were redesigned for the year, but that excludes some excellent options and we think knowing all the options makes for a more informed and confident car buyer. We have the most comprehensive and practical automotive awards in Canada: Our jury is a diverse group of more than 20 expert automotive journalists who evaluate hundreds of cars according to 12 different criteria to help you make more confident decisions when buying your next car.