We outline the movies and shows available on each streaming service, plus the cost, number of users and other key info. Plus, a cost comparison of streaming vs. cable.
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Streaming services in Canada boast endless options. While choice can be a great thing, it can also cause confusion when it comes to the value of each service, since each differs greatly in terms of available movies and shows, subscription costs and the number of users that can access a single account. But don’t worry, we’ve rounded up the Canadian streaming services, their prices and other key information so that you can choose (and binge-watch) wisely. Plus, we’ve included some free services for the more frugally-minded viewers.
Before you sign up for any streaming service, first find out if it offers a free trial. This will not only save you a few bucks, but it will also allow you to sample the service and get a better idea of whether you want to fully invest in it. Some services, like Netflix and Disney+, do not offer free trials, whereas Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video offer 7- and 30-day free trials, respectively.
While conventional sales are rare in the world of streaming services, that’s not to say you can’t find a deal. Some services can be bundled (like through your Amazon Prime membership, for example), or you can save by paying for an entire year upfront (as you’ll see below).
Of course, a great way to save on streaming services is to share them. Check how many users are allowed on one account—then have a conversation about it with family and friends. If, say, your parents or adult kids subscribe to Netflix, you may be able to use their account. If you have an existing account of your own with a particular streaming service, and room to add more users, you can always agree to exchange log-ins, too..
Here are the streaming services in Canada, along with their prices and features, to help you choose the right one for you and your household:
What to watch: Stream Amazon’s original content, such as My Policeman, Samaritan, Deep Water, Mammals, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Yellowstone, Overdose, The Sound of 007 and The Boys.
Cost: Amazon Prime membership fee (includes Amazon Prime Video): $9.99 per month or $99 a year. Channel add-on costs vary from $3.99 to $12.99 per month. For further details, see Amazon’s pricing add-on chart.
How many devices: Stream select content on 3 devices.
What’s included: 4K and HD streaming of Amazon Prime; offline viewing and downloads on select titles. Ad-free and on-demand music streaming with Amazon Music Prime. Get access to free games through Prime Gaming and to thousands of books and magazines through Prime Reading. Get free two-day shipping included with your Prime membership. To top it off, Amazon Prime Video Channels allows you to add premium video channels including Starz, StackTV Canada, BBC Earth and BritBox to your base Prime subscription for an additional fee. Costs vary depending on the channel.
Free trial or deals: 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime Video when you sign up for Amazon Prime. Get three months of Amazon Prime Music Unlimited free when you sign up for Amazon Prime for the first time.
What to watch: Apple TV+ features original shows, such as Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, See and The Shrink Next Door, and movies, like Spirited, Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me and Causeway.
Cost: $8.99 per month for basic plan; $18.95 per month for family plan; $24.95 per month for premier plan; $37.95 per month if bundled with other services via Apple One.
How many devices: 6
What’s included: 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) streaming across all devices for one price
Free trial or deals: 7-day free trial or three months free with the purchase of an Apple device, such as a Macbook, an iPhone or an iPad
What to watch: Stream well-known British dramas and sitcoms, including Downton Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, Luther, Line of Duty and many other classic and recent shows.
What’s included: Stream hundreds of British TV shows ad-free and in HD on your laptop, desktop or mobile device.
Cost: $9.99 per month, $99.99 per year
How many devices: 5
Free trial or deals: 7-day free trial
What to watch: Enjoy ad-free streaming of all CBC videos, including well-known shows like Fakes, Family Feud Canada, Diggstown, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Moonshine, Heartland, Brassic, The Great Canadian Baking Show, Our House and Dragons’ Den, as well as news programming and special event coverage.
Cost: $4.99 per month
How many devices: 5
What’s included: HD ad-free streaming of all content on CBC Gem
Free trial or deals: 30-day free trial when you create your account
What to watch: Stream Crave and HBO original shows including Dark Side of Comedy, Pillow Talk, Dark Side of the Ring, Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. The World, Rat Park, Letterkenny, Game of Thrones and The Handmaid’s Tale. Crave also has a selection of movies, such as Ocean’s 11, Top Gun, Jason Bourne, Blade Runner, Robin Hood, Elvis, John Wick, Passenger 57 and the Harry Potter series. Plus, it gives you access to family content and documentaries.
Cost: Crave Total: $19.99 per month or $159.90 per year. Crave Mobile: $9.99 per month or $99.90 per year. Starz add-on: $5.99 per month. You can also sign up for Crave through your cable provider, and free trials vary by province.
How many devices: 5 on both Crave Total and Mobile
What’s included: Downloading and streaming anytime on up to 5 devices along with access to Crave’s entire library.
Free trial or deals: None from Crave; check your cable provider
What to watch: Access hundreds of different anime series, like Chainsaw Man, My Hero Academia and the Dragon Ball series, and 40,000 anime episodes.
Cost: Fan subscription is $9.99 per month, and Mega Fan is $12.49 per month or $124.99 per year
How many devices: 1 device with the Fan subscription, or 4 with the Mega Fan subscription
What’s included: All packages include ad-free streaming of the entire Crunchyroll anime library. Get unlimited offline viewing and stream on up to four devices with a Mega Fan subscription.
Free trial or deals: 14-day free trial
What to watch: Stream documentaries, such as Out of the Cradle, Butterfly Effect and Into the Jungle, along with many other movies and shows about history, science, technology, nature and society.
Cost: Standard HD subscription: USD$2.99 per month or USD$19.99 per year. Premium 4K subscription: USD$9.99 per month or USD$69.99 per year.
How many devices: 5
What’s included: HD streaming with a standard HD subscription, and 4K streaming with a 4K subscription
Free trial or deals: None
What to watch: Watch more than 70,000 episodes from a variety of shows and channels. Notable streaming picks include NASA’s Unexplained Files; How the Universe Works; Planet Earth; 90 Day Fiancé; Cake Boss; Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Gold Rush; Kindred Spirits; and Home Town.
What’s included: Access to over 2,500 current and former shows from a variety of TV brands, including Discovery, Animal Planet and Food Network.
Cost: $4.99 per month, $6.99 per month ad-free
How many devices: 4
Free trial or deals: None
What to watch: Stream all Disney original content like Andor, Earth Moods, Echo, Ice Age: Secret Tales, Inside Pixar, Loki and Cheaper by the Dozen, and gain full access to the Marvel movie library and all 33 seasons of The Simpsons. In 2023, Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Ahsoka are two anticipated series are coming to the service.
Cost: $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year. Star on Disney+ included with all subscriptions.
How many devices: 4
What’s included: Ad-free streaming of all Disney content
Free trial or deals: None
What to watch: Enjoy a wide selection of documentaries and films, including We Were Wolves, What We Do in the Shadows, Gaza, Maliglutit, Alice, Recovery Room, Body and Bones, Our Body, How Are You and Real Artists.
What’s included: Stream films from well-known global film festivals, including TIFF, Sundance, Cannes and others.
Cost: $7 per month, $70 per year
How many devices: Unlimited
Free trial or deals: 14-day free trial
What to watch: You have thousands of titles to choose from for your viewing pleasure. Netflix has both original shows (Lost In Space, Maid, Dahmer, The Crown, Lucifer, Manifest, Is it Cake?, The Witcher, Money Heist) and movies (Purple Hearts, The Gray Man, Me Time). It also has the rights to a number of ultra-popular shows, such as Seinfeld and Breaking Bad, plus a huge selection of movies old and new, from All Quiet on The Western Front to Falling for Christmas. Documentaries and kids’ shows are available, too.
Cost: Basic with ads $5.99 per month, basic $9.99 per month, standard $16.49 per month, premium $20.99 per month
How many devices: 1 device on basic with ads, 1 device with basic, 2 devices with standard, 4 with premium
What’s included: Watch unlimited movies and shows on your mobile phone, laptop or tablet anytime with HD streaming. You can download videos on up to 2 devices with a standard plan. Get 4K and HD video streaming, plus downloads on up to four devices, with the premium plan.
Free trial or deals: None
What to watch: Get access to award-winning CBS news library and Paramount+ original shows such as The Twilight Zone, Yellowstone, Seal Team, Evil, Halo, Why Women Kill and Star Trek: Discovery.
Cost: $9.99 per month
How many devices: 3
What’s included: Stream more than 40,000 TV episodes and movies from a variety of different channels, including CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and CBS News.
Free trial or deals: 7-day free trial, and 50% off for 3 months
What to watch: A bone-chilling selection of horror movies, from classics like Hellraiser, The Descent and Creepshow to modern horror films like It Follows and B-movies like Sleepaway Camp. Shudder also features a selection of podcasts and series like Eli Roth’s History of Horror and The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs.
What’s included: Stream movies, series and podcasts, as well as access to Shudder TV, where you can watch real-time horror movies as they come on, as though you were browsing basic cable.
Cost: $4.75 per month, $56.99 per year
How many devices: 1
Free trial or deals: 7-day free trial
What to watch: It’s YouTube plus some added luxuries, including ad-free video streaming, offline video downloads and background video playback. Get access to YouTube Music with ad-free streaming, offline music downloads and background playback.
Cost: Standard plan $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year, family plan $22.99 per month, student plan $6.99 per month
How many devices: Stream video and music offline on 4 devices.
What’s included: For all subscription tiers: ad-free video and music streaming and downloads along with background playing of YouTube
Free trial or deals: 3-month free trial for standard subscribers, 1-month free trial for family and student subscribers (more info on free stuff from YouTube below)
If you’re on a shoestring budget or simply don’t want to pay for what you watch, there are free (and totally legal!) alternatives available.
YouTube is the most popular streaming service online, and it offers endless hours of video. We covered the paid plans on premium services above, but YouTube can also be a trusty, free choice for hours of entertainment—you may just have to endure some ads (some are skippable, though!). You can watch a variety of free videos through the YouTube Originals channel, such as The Mandela Project, Seat at the Table, Onyx Family Dinner, The Outsiders and Demi Lovato’s Dancing with the Devil. You can also watch YouTube stars like Marques Brownlee, Liza Koshy and Rhett & Link from Good Mythical Morning.
Into gaming? Twitch is the platform for streaming and watching gaming content. Watch prominent gaming streamers, including Ninja, auronplay, Rubius, ibai and xQc, along with staple gaming channels, such as IGN and GameSpot. Ninja is the top streamer on the platform with 18.4 million followers, and auronplay is in the second spot with 14.1 million followers. Twitch also features emotes (or emoticons), including the popular <3 (Twitch heart), PogChamp, LUL, 5Head, CurseLit and many others you can download and use. You don’t need to register for an account to watch streams on the desktop version of Twitch, but you’ll need to if you’re streaming through the app.
There’s a lot to like with Tubi, which offers more than 45,000 movies and TV shows, along with over 100 local and live news channels. Prominent shows on the platform include MasterChef Canada, Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen and Forensic Files. Tubi is a division of media giant Fox Entertainment, whose network has over 400 entertainment partners from major Hollywood studios. You do not need to register an account to stream Tubi, but having one allows you to queue up movies and save them for later. With a strong content library, Tubi is a great free choice for streaming. However, you will have to endure short commercials (remember those?).
Kanopy is a streaming service that’s available through public libraries in Canada, as long as you have a library card (if you’re a student, you can access it through your college or university, too). Offering both entertaining and educational content, the platform has a unique video selection, including Canadian and independent cinema. Titles include Memento, Maurice, Boy, Sesame Street, Franklin, Quartet, Small Town Murder Songs and Iqaluit. Independent shows and films include Silo, The Phone Call and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Though nowhere near the size of YouTube or Twitch, Dailymotion has features worth checking out. The site has four dedicated verticals: news, sports, entertainment and music. Prominent news publications like The Canadian Press, Vogue and Teen Vogue have channels.
Interested in knowing how streaming costs stack up against cable? Assuming you already pay around $70 for internet service each month, here’s what it will cost you to add a streaming service (or two) to that expense. Keep in mind prices will vary depending on where you live and the plans you choose. The chart below compares the streamers’ fees with the average costs of cable plans.
| Streaming | Cable |
| 1 streaming service (Netflix basic with ads): $5.99 per month | Basic cable (Rogers and Bell): 25 to 35 channels, $25 per month |
| 2 streaming services (Netflix + Prime): $15.98 per month | Medium package (Rogers and Bell): 30 to 130 channels, $98 per month (Bell) to $135 per month (Rogers) |
| 3 streaming services (Netflix + Prime + Crave): $35.97 per month | Large package (Rogers and Bell): 52 to 154 channels, $133 per month (Bell) to $149 per month (Rogers) |
| 4 streaming services (Netflix + Prime + Crave + Apple): $44.96 per month | All-inclusive package (Rogers and Bell): 95 to 192 channels, $180 per month (Bell) to $209 per month (Rogers) |
If you’re wondering which of the two offers the best selection at the lowest cost, the short answer is: it depends. Many factors affect the costs of streaming, including what you want to watch. For instance, someone who needs cable to watch live sporting events may not find the same value in having a few streaming services, whereas a British TV show lover may find little value in basic cable.
So, where do all these platforms get their content? It differs for each service. While streaming giants like Netflix, Apple and Crave do produce original programming through their own production houses, they also procure the rights to stream various television shows and movies. Other services, like Crunchyroll and Highball.TV, don’t produce original shows or movies; they only procure rights for what they stream. And sometimes those rights are limited, which is why you may have heard that Prime had Superstore, but it’s now only available on Netflix, for example. Streaming services will also buy the rights to stream exclusively on their respective platforms. For example, after Friends was removed from Netflix, it was soon released for streaming on Crave.
The country you’re watching from matters, too. What’s available to Canadians can differ in other countries, even on the same streaming service provider. Check the streaming service’s website to see if you’ll be able to get the shows and movies you want to watch.
Either way, with so many services available, all with huge libraries of films, shows and documentaries, you’re bound to find something binge-worthy—no matter your budget.
This article was originally published on December 16, 2022, and has since been updated.
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You missed Stack TV
Two completely free streaming services, available via my public library card: Hoopla (various media) and Kanopy (films)
Combined with Gem, one can avoid supporting businesses that don’t encourage Canadian content and don’t pay their fair share of tax.
In the free category you fail to mention TUBI and Kanopy (requires a library card) and possibly VUDU (Walmart movies) which I haven’t confirmed is open to Canadians.
In some instances I’ve found movies on TUBI for free that were also listed on the paid services. TUBI does have short commercials.
In the paid category what about Acorn and Britbox? There are others.
This article does not include IPTV services such as Apollo Group TV which provide lots of channels, movies and series for less than $18 per month on an annual plan.
With amazon prime you also get:
1) Kindle Prime
It is not Kindle Unlimited but a selection of Kindle books available to Prime subscribers
2) Amazon Music Prime
It is not Amazon Music Unlimited but a selection of Amazon Music available to Prime Subscribers.
3) There are a number of other streaming services you can add on to the base Prime service. Each usually come with a free trial and the ability to cancel at anytime. Sometimes the service has films you might find on a pay per view for cheaper than the pay per view.
Not sure what dollar value you would apply to these but they certainly they certainly add to the value of streaming service alone.
Amazon Prime offers free 30 day trials of Brit Box, PBS Masterpiece, and several others.
What annoys me most is “live” news feeds that are really just re-running shows — or even just clips from shows — that were produced hours or even days ago. At the very least, we need a mechanism to let the viewer know exactly when a piece was posted. Is there any journalism channel that is actually committed to news?
When comparing the cost of Cable vs Streaming should you also count in the cost of internet data being used to watch these programs being streamed. If you don’t stream then you aren’t using as much data so a lower internet package would be a savings. I haven’t checked this out but to me it seems logical.
I subscribe to Netflix, Disney+, and Prime. For live sports, I stream from TSN and Sportsnet’s subscription services; no need to be a cable subscriber to get access, and both provide deals for “bulk” purchases, e.g. if you pay for 6- or 12-months in advance instead of month-to-month.
You missed Sundance
streaming vs cable
yes you say its cheaper but what you forget to mention is that internet is not free. if i went with all 4 it would actually be cheaper to have cable & internet because shaw bundles is 150 per month including tax. where as internet + 4 is 140+tax