Results are decided by a 182-member jury, including The Vancouver Sun's Francois Marchand, who is in Toronto this weekend to sit on the Polaris Prize's 11-member grand jury panel.

It will be the fifth year the prize has celebrated Canada's musical talent (mostly independent rock), by rewarding one artist or band with $20,000.

The winner will also likely enjoy better album sales, but Postmedia News wanted to know 1) What the Polaris has done for previous winners, and 2) How it's changed the Canadian indie-music scene in general, since the prize's inception in 2006.

In their words, here is what three of the four past winners and the prize's creator, Steve Jordan, had to say:

Owen Pallett: winner of the inaugural Polaris Prize in 2006 for He Poos Clouds (and nominated again this year for Heartland):

1) I'm not trying to dismiss the effect Polaris has had on my life, but most of the musicians I know, we spend our time working and trying to write better songs. We don't want our success to be charted up to the fact that we won an award once. I spent so much time working on my songs, people! (Laughs.) It's a difficult thing for artists to talk about. But yeah, there was a spike in album sales.

2) Generally, as a cultural pageant, it's awesome, and kind of runs in an opposite direction to most Canadian sensibilities, to really get behind and support their artists. Most of the time, if a Canadian band gets successful outside Canada, then a lot of Canadian journalists and listeners have a very bitter attitude toward the success of a band of, say, Crystal Castles. So to have everyone come together to really applaud everyone is a really good thing.

Dan Snaith: winner of the 2008 prize for Andorra (and nominated again this year for Swim):

1) It's hard to say what winning the Polaris has done, aside from the obvious result, which is having more money to put into making this record ( Swim), but it's harder to pin down the exposure, because right when that happened is when I started recording again. It's such a solitary process for me; I didn't go on tour, I didn't do any interviews, I didn't do anything apart from making music, so when this album came out in April, it was the first time I've done interviews or shows.

2) Wherever I go in the world, I get asked about the Polaris Prize, so it definitely confirms that people are paying attention to it all over the world.

The most valuable thing about Polaris is not necessarily who wins the prize, but the shortlist and the longlist and sparking debate and discussion about music, and raising the profile of Canadian independent music in general. If I had to say what the best result is, it's that the whole community of Canadian musicians gets extra focus, for artists who probably wouldn't have got it any other way.

Damian Abraham: of the band F---ed Up, winner of the 2009 prize for The Chemistry of Common Life:

1) For many bands who won previously, the Polaris helped them get international exposure, but for us, we had a nonexistent Canadian profile. Although we're big in London, New York, L.A., Chicago and Russia, nothing else besides the Polaris has given us the opportunity to become a "Canadian" band. We never got any of the grants we applied for. Before we won the Polaris and subsequently, we've got one or two.

2) For an award that hasn't been around that long, it's taken very seriously by the music culture at large. It's one of those awards that's mentioned in the same breath as the Mercury Prize would be in England, which is a lot more established, as far as an award goes. ... What the Polaris did is allow indie music to be recognized without the big push of a major label. Their mission statement is to recognize the best in Canadian music, regardless of sales, and that's what it's done.

Steve Jordan: executive director and founder of the Polaris Music Prize:

Last year, Elliott Brood, who was on the shortlist but didn't even win, sent me an e-mail from the road saying their shows were selling out, and they knew it was because they played the (televised awards) gala; that's what people were telling them.

Patrick Watson (winner of the prize in 2007) also sold out a tour that was booked right after Polaris, and certainly, our artists who do tour in Europe and the States have told us there's a recognition factor, especially when they do interviews with foreign press. The Polaris win, or even a nomination, gives them a hook to get coverage.

The international recognition is certainly growing. I mean, last year, we got a write-up in The New Yorker we never even attempted to get; it just showed up. In turn, it helps promote Polaris, which helps promote future nominees.

The beauty is, on our shortlist every year, some of our titles are already widely recognized, and, like the Mercury Prize, they're in the company of titles that aren't. Specifically, this year, for English Canada, there's a couple of Frenchlanguage records that deserve people's attention. So being in the company of more popular artists like Tegan and Sara and Broken Social Scene hopefully helps the likes of Karkwa and Radio Radio. That's by design, though we can't predict who's going to be on the shortlist; that's really up to the vote. We've been fortunate that it's usually worked out that way.

The awards gala will be broadcast live on MuchMusic.comon Monday at 5 p.m. It will also be broadcast on MuchMusic Saturday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m.

The gala will feature performances by all 10 shortlisted artists: The Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa, Dan Mangan, Owen Pallett, Radio Radio, the Sadies, Shad, and Tegan and Sara.