Jamie Fine – Creative Arts and Design Award 2025
Singer-songwriter, recording artist
Culinary Management, 2013
Singer-songwriter Jamie Fine had her first big break in 2018. Her performance of “Ain’t Easy” on CTV’s The Launch floored the judges and landed her a record deal with a major label from Nashville, Tennessee. “Ain’t Easy” would go double Platinum in Canada and pave the way for 8:47 (2019), a Juno Award-nominated album with nearly 40 million streams on Spotify alone.
Fine says her time as a student at Algonquin College has directly contributed to her success as an artist, though her field of study might seem surprising: Culinary Management. “Actually, it’s funny how many musicians were in the cooking program,” she explained. “Cooking and music go hand in hand. They’re both very creative fields.”
Being a chef and making music have another thing in common: both require immense discipline. Fine credits her college professors with instilling in her the importance of punctuality, hard work, and cooperation—lessons that continue to inform her professional ethic and ground her. “Algonquin College staff are one-of-a-kind and that translates to how students feel heard and seen and safe,” she said. “I had a great experience and so did all my classmates.”
Between her college classes, Fine continued to pursue her musical interests. She befriended Music Industry Arts students and frequently collaborated in projects with them. Two collaborations from these student years have had a significant impact on her musical career: Elijah Woods, with whom she performed the career-launching “Ain’t Easy”; and Matthieu St. Jules, a guitarist who records and tours with Fine to this day.
In 2020, after much consideration, Fine decided to leave the duo she had formed with Woods and pursue a solo career. Her debut solo album, eight gardengate (2022), resonated with both fans and critics, but it was her follow-up release, if this is it… (2024), that launched her career to new heights. The album’s lead single, “If Anything’s Left” (2023), became a breakout hit. It topped the charts in Canada and South Africa and earned Fine her fifth Juno Award nomination.
Fine’s unique voice, raw talent, and sharp-edged songwriting have earned her a staggering 150 million global streams. This feat positions her as one of Canada’s emerging pop music icons. Yet, she has accomplished all this without compromising her ultimate goal as an artist: to help others feel less lonely.
Fine, an openly and proud gay woman, remembers that she “was heavily bullied as a child.” But when she put on her headphones and listened to music on the MP3 player her mother gave her, she found solace. Music made it easier for her to deal with her challenges. “It just made me feel better,” she recalled. “When I started making music, I vowed—as dramatic as this sounds—I vowed I’d give people what music had given me.”
Making this decision early on has helped Fine root her career in human connection rather than fame. Even her approach to social media focuses more on authenticity than self-promotion. As Sabina Wex wrote for CBC Arts, after “If Anything’s Left” went viral on TikTok in 2023, other “musicians would keep churning out content, trying to make more viral hits, but Fine wanted to connect with her fans offline.” She took her band to South Africa, where her music had become particularly popular, and played for thousands of fans who “were screaming every word to every song.” This first South African tour was such a powerful experience for Fine that it became a cornerstone of her artistic journey. She has returned to South Africa every year since.
As Fine’s success grew, so did her involvement in causes that matter to her. She has collaborated with sports organizations in the nation’s capital such as the Ottawa Charge and Ottawa Rapid FC. She has performed in Pride celebrations across North America, including in West Hollywood, California, an epicentre of LGBTQ+ culture. And she participates actively in both her fiancée’s and her own social media accounts, where she engages millions of followers on a variety of issues, often in a comedic way.
Fine performing at the Alumni of Distinction Awards Night 2024. Source: Algonquin College.
Although Fine’s career is experiencing a remarkable crescendo at home and abroad, she remains deeply connected to her home community in Ottawa. She has returned to her alma mater to perform in support of a variety of campus events, including Algonquin College’s 50th anniversary gala, a post-COVID activity for employees, and the Alumni of Distinction Awards 2024. The reason for her engagement is simple: “I’m a very proud graduate and will do anything forever for my college.”
Discover more 2025 Alumni of Distinction award recipients.