If you’re subscribed to Canadian streaming services like CraveTV, Bravo, and CBC, you may have noticed you cannot use them when you’re in the US.
This is happening because Canadian services only have the rights to broadcast their content in Canada. They don’t have US-based broadcasting rights.
This is obviously frustrating if you’re already a paying subscriber and you want to watch your favourite Canadian shows when in the States.
The good news is there’s an easy way to fix this problem!
All you need is a reliable VPN with fast Canadian servers and that has measures to get around the VPN blocking measures that Canadian streaming services use.
This article will explain how to watch Canadian TV in the US with a reliable VPN. Read on to find out which VPNs are the best for doing this.
See also:
- FX not working with VPN? Here’s how to fix that!
- How to watch BET+ outside the US: It’s EASY and only takes 2-minutes! (July 2021)
- How to watch Hayu in the US: It’s EASY! (July 2021)
- Peacock not working with VPN? (Updated July 2021) How to EASILY fix!
How to watch Canadian TV in the US: Easy Fix
To watch Canadian streaming services in the US, you need a Canadian IP address.
The easiest and most reliable way to get one is with a VPN.
Follow these simple steps to watch Canadian TV in the US:
Total Time: 2 minutes
Create a new account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
Download and install the new VPN app
Open your new app and connect to a server in Canada
Watch Canadian TV in the US
Why doesn’t Canadian TV work in the US?
Your Canadian streaming services aren’t working in the US because they’re blocking your connection.
The vast majority of Canadian TV services only have the rights to broadcast their content in Canada. These TV services have signed copyright and licensing agreements that deem Canada as their broadcast zone.
If you’re trying to watch a streaming service that has the rights to broadcast its content in the US, you won’t have any issues. However, most Canadian streaming platforms don’t have these rights.
If a streaming service breaches its copyright and licensing agreements, it could face severe financial repercussions. Canadian TV services broadcasting their content in the US is a breach of these agreements.
To stop that from happening, Canadian streaming services block anyone outside of Canada from accessing their content. This is why you’re running into errors when trying to watch your favourite Canadian TV channels in the US.
How does my connection get blocked?
Your connection is being blocked based because of your physical location.
Online Canadian streaming services can determine your location by scanning your IP address.
Whenever you go online, you’re allocated a unique IP address. This is used to create a communication line between your device and the website or app you’re visiting.
For this communication to work, your IP address needs to contain information about where your device is geographically. So the streaming service or website knows where to send the information to.
Canadian TV streaming services scan your IP address whenever you connect to their platforms. If the geographic information sent with your IP address shows you aren’t in Canada, your connection will be blocked.
How can I get around these geo-blocks?
To watch Canadian TV in the US, you need to make the streaming services think you’re accessing the platform from within Canada.
To do that, you need a Canadian IP address. And the best way to get one is using a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
These VPNs give you an anonymous internet connection, so streaming services cannot track your location, and they also allow you to spoof your IP address so that streaming services think you’re accessing their content from within Canada.
All you need to do is download ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), connect to a Canadian server, and you’ll be given a Canadian IP address.
Now when the streaming service you’re trying to watch scans your IP, it will think you’re in Canada, and you’ll be able to stream its content. This will allow you to watch Canadian TV in the US and anywhere in the world.
Will any VPN work?
There are loads of VPNs out there, and not all of them will work with Canadian TV.
The VPNs that do work with Canadian streaming services are the ones that have fast Canadian servers and that have measures in place to get around Canadian TV VPN blocking techniques.
Yes, Canadian TV streaming services try to block VPNs. They do this because VPNs are well-known ways of watching Canadian TV outside its broadcast zone, and it could put the channels at risk of financial repercussions.
For lesser VPNs, especially free VPNs, it’s difficult to get around these blocks. The best VPNs like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have a simple process that allows you to watch Canadian TV reliably in the US.
When an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) is blocked by a Canadian streaming service, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) will close that IP address and open a new one. This cat and mouse game allows you to stay ahead of the streaming service’s VPN blocks, and you’ll be able to watch Canadian TV in the US reliably.
The best VPNs to watch Canadian TV in the US
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2022
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
Special Offer for you!
Get 3 extra months free when you sign up for a 12-month ExpressVPN plan. That’s 15 months in total for the price of 12.
Number of servers: 3,000+ | Speed: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 160 in 94 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $6.66/month for 15 months
- $9.99/month for 6 months
- $12.95/month for 1 month
ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is still the best VPN. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites. Meaning, whenever one of its servers is blacklisted it creates a new one – giving its users a constant stream of servers that aren’t blocked. Needless to say, this is a valuable attribute if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock streaming sites.
Its app is easy-to-use and free to download on pretty much any device you can think of. Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, FireStick, Android TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox, Linux, even Apple TV (with a workaround). It’s got it all covered.
The app is another main reason this VPN is so good at unblocking TV streaming sites (that claim they block VPNs) is that its software takes a pragmatic approach to user management. While other VPNs tempt customers by promising them access to hundreds/thousands of servers in multiple countries, ExpressVPN does things differently.
With ExpressVPN you only have a handful of server locations to choose from. Once you select your location the app takes care of the rest. Assigning you to the fastest available server that’s not oversubscribed. This simple technique is so important, as it keeps ExpressVPN’s servers operating at lightning-fast speeds and prevents its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.
Check out our full ExpressVPN review.
Special Offer for you
(30-day money-back guarantee)
2. Private Internet Access 🥈
The BEST low-cost VPN for streaming!
Pros
- ✅ Fast and reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Only 48 server locations
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 25,000+ | Speed: >75% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 70 in 74 countries | Devices supported: 10 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.03/month for 3 years
- $7.50/month for 6 months
- $11.99/month for 1 month
Private Internet Access is one of the leading no-log VPN services with over 1-million paying customers.
This VPN is one of the best in the industry at beating streaming sites’ VPN bans. It provides reliable connections with US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ Amazon Prime Video, etc. It also allows 10 simultaneous devices to be connected to its servers at the same time, so you can share the account with your close friends.
If – for whatever reason – you’re not happy with Private Internet Access, there’s a 24/7 live chat support available to assist you with your problem. PIA also offers the industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
From my tests (from New Zealand) I was able to get download speeds of 70 Mbps while connected to a UK server using the Private Internet Access VPN (my non-VPN speed is 100 Mbps).
Special Offer – Save 83%
(30-day money-back guarantee)
3. NordVPN 🥉
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ No logs
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 6-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ No refunds for purchases from iTunes/App store
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 5,000+ | Speeds: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 62 countries | Devices supported: 6 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $3.49/month for 2 years
- $6.99/month for 1 year
- $11.95/month for 1 month
NordVPN is the most widely-used VPN in the world. And it’s easy to see why. It’s a polished app that delivers fast connections (more on this later) to a massive network of VPN servers.
It’s the most reliable at unblocking popular streaming services too – US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is because NordVPN hired a full-time technical team (that’s responsible for monitoring its servers’ connections with popular TV streaming services) and has been aggressively investing in its network of IP addresses in key locations.
Another interesting thing to note is that NordVPN is an industry leader in its development of Nordlynx technology. Nordlynx is built using the WireGuard, a new VPN tunneling protocol designed to outperform current standards (OpenVPN and IPSec). The benefits, according to NordVPN, are dramatically faster transfer speeds while connected to a VPN. My tests – New Zealand to London – confirm that Nordlynx is currently the fastest VPN on the market. However, the difference isn’t dramatic, a few Mbps is all.
SPECIAL OFFER – SAVE 70%!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
4. Ivacy
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ Dedicated streaming servers
- ✅ 5-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
Cons
- ❌ Only 5 devices
- ❌ Sometimes runs slow
- ❌ Occasionally block by streaming sites for several days
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for Ivacy and enjoy a 7-day trial with no strings attached
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $1.16/month for 5 years
- $3.50/month for 1 year
- $9.99/month for 1 month
If you’re looking for an excellent VPN, with an even better price tag, Ivacy ($1.16/month) is a great option.
This VPN has all the features you need to stream BBC iPlayer, in HD, from any country in the world. I’ve been testing the app recently on Mac, PC, Android, iOS and FireStick and the results have been impressive – unlocking BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. with ease.
The Ivacy app is a little different in regards to its UX (user experience). Instead of just selecting a UK server, you need to select the specific BBC iPlayer server. Don’t worry, this isn’t a bad thing – by connecting to a dedicated BBC iPlayer server, it simply means that you’re connecting to an IP address that Ivacy knows works with BBC iPlayer.
For an extra $1.99/month (£1.74) you can add-on a dedicated IP. This will buy you sole access to an IP address in a country of your choice, meaning you won’t have to share your IP (and speeds) with any other use. I don’t recommend this though, using the regular Ivacy servers is enough 95 per cent of the time.
Special Offer – 7-day FREE trial!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
5. CyberGhost
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ 1-day free trial
- ✅ Reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 7-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
- ❌ Average speed scores
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
Take advantage of CyberGhost’s 1-day FREE TRIAL!
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.75/month for 3 years
- $3.69/month for 2 years
- $5.99/month for 1 year
- $12.99/month for 1 month
CyberGhost is one of the more established VPNs on the market. It has a well-established, and well-tested global network of servers that perform well.
From my tests over the past several months, CyberGhost has no trouble at unblocking major streaming services – US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max etc. This VPN performed well at maintaining download speeds, well above 65 per cent of my regular (non VPN) ISP speed.
That said, there’s nothing really unique about the service. Which forces you to look at its price-point. And there’s nothing special here. Its short-term $12.99/month price tag puts is well above the industry average of $10.10/month. Similarly, its long-term $2.75/month for 3 years deal isn’t much of a “deal” either.
Oddly, CyberGhost’s most unique feature is its a 1-day, no obligations, free trial. This is an appealing offer to customers who are new to VPNs. However, it’s important to remember that most reputable VPNs will offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so try not to be too seduced by the offer.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
