[1] Saskatoon attempted to host the 2019 awards, but abandoned that bid due to lack of funding.

[5] On 12 March 2020, three days before the presentation, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced that the ceremony and all ancillary events had been cancelled due to health concerns surrounding the coronavirus, as it had been declared a pandemic by World Health Organization the day before.

CARAS stated that it would "coordinate an alternate plan" to honour its 2020 award recipients.

[7][8] The Junos Songwriters' Circle, an annual event normally held as part of the Juno Awards weekend which features Canadian songwriters performing and sharing the stories behind their songs in a panel format, was relaunched in May 2020 in a web series format, with the first episode featuring Brett Kissel, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Kaia Kater and Devon Portielje.

[13] The following performers appeared during the livestream:[14] Jann Arden was set to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the main ceremonies.