Canadian Streaming Habits in 2026: The Data Behind the Cord-Cutting Wave

Introduction

Canada is in the middle of the largest shift in television consumption since cable arrived in the 1970s. But what do the numbers actually say? How many Canadians are cutting the cord? What are they watching instead? And critically — what does it cost?

This article synthesizes the best publicly available Canadian data from 2025-2026: MTM's national binge survey, Numeris/thinkTV television measurement, Parrot Analytics genre demand data, StatCan internet access figures, CRTC structural reporting, and direct disclosures from Bell Media and CBC/Radio-Canada.

The picture that emerges challenges some assumptions — and confirms others.

Section 1: Canada Is a Binge-Watching Nation

The single most important number in Canadian television today is this: 58% of Canadians aged 18+ say they binge-watched in the past month, according to MTM's national survey. Among those, 15% binge daily.

But the real story is in the age split:

Young Canadians are not merely watching differently — they are watching in a fundamentally different format. Binge-watching is the default mode for nearly three-quarters of adults under 35. Traditional cable, with its fixed schedule and weekly episode releases, is simply not designed for this consumption pattern.

There are also notable demographic variations:

Francophones binge at 61% versus 57% for Anglophones

Men are more likely to binge daily (18%) than women (13%)

The highest binge propensity by platform is Crave at 71%, followed by Disney+ at 69%, YouTube and Prime Video at 67%, and Netflix at 66%

Source: Media Technology Monitor (MTM), Canada-wide survey.

Section 2: What Canadians Are Actually Watching

Genre data from Parrot Analytics reveals a stable hierarchy in Canadian demand:

A key finding: Canada over-indexes on comedy. In Parrot's 2022 global comparison, Canada ranked as the second most comedy-loving market, with sitcoms at 9.7% of all series demand in 2023 — stronger than any other measured market.

For younger viewers, MTM Junior's 2026 report shows a different pattern: adventure dominates among ages 2–17, while teenagers shift toward drama, mystery, science fiction, and reality competition. Critically, 4 in 5 kids now watch SVOD monthly, versus just under 7 in 10 who watch linear TV monthly.

Source: Parrot Analytics Canada market reports; MTM Junior 2026.

Section 3: The Platform Landscape — Who Has Reach?

Numeris/thinkTV's fall 2025 measurement shows the real platform pecking order on Canadian television sets. Weekly reach among adults 18+:

Several things jump out here. First, linear TV still dominates reach — but that dominance is eroding rapidly among younger viewers. In the 18–34 age group, linear TV drops to 61% of viewing time, with streaming at 21% and YouTube at 18%. Combined, streaming and YouTube now account for nearly 40% of young adult TV-set viewing.

Second, the Canadian platform hierarchy is different from the U.S. narrative. Prime Video substantially outperforms Netflix in Canadian TV-set reach. YouTube has become a major long-form competitor, particularly on connected TVs where 60% of watch time is on content 21+ minutes long.

Third, Crave's position is instructive. Despite its low TV-set reach (3.3%), Bell Media reported Crave reached 4.6 million subscribers in Q4 2025, up 26% year-over-year, with its most-watched quarter in history. Crave users are simultaneously the platform's most committed bingers (71% binge rate) and a relatively small share of overall TV-set viewing — a concentration that speaks to premium-series value over broad-channel appeal.

CBC/Radio-Canada's digital ecosystem tells a different but equally important story: 20.8 million Canadians used CBC digital services across sites, apps, streaming platforms, and YouTube, with 4.0 million regular monthly streamers on CBC Gem. Among Francophones, CBC/Radio-Canada digital services rank in the top 10 across multiple age bands.

Source: Numeris VAM via thinkTV, fall 2025; Bell Media Q4 2025; CBC Q3 FY2025–26.

Section 4: The Real Cost of Canadian Television

Here is what the average Canadian streaming household is currently paying:

Add traditional cable on top:

A household with cable plus three streaming services is paying $160–$300/month for television. Annually: $1,920–$3,600.

And it gets worse. Bell and Rogers charge extra for French channels ($12–$15/mo), sports packages ($30–$35/mo), and lock customers into 12–18 month contracts with $150–$200 cancellation fees.

Meanwhile, 28% of households are now subscribing tactically — signing up for specific content, bingeing it, and canceling when finished, according to MTM's fall 2025 data. The subscription model itself is being gamed by consumers who have learned to churn.

Source: Service pricing as of July 2026; MTM fall 2025.

Section 5: French Canada — A Separate Market

The CRTC-commissioned Nordicity report on discoverability makes an unambiguous structural point: English-language Canadian domestic content competes directly with the gravitational pull of U.S. titles, while French-language markets retain stronger local affinity and loyalty.

This aligns with viewing data. MTM shows Francophones binge slightly more than Anglophones (61% vs 57%). Across Francophone markets, local and public-service streaming options show more resilience than in English Canada. CBC/Radio-Canada's French-language digital services rank in the top 10 across most Francophone age bands, and Crave's Quebec subscriber base is anecdotally reported as more stable than its Anglo-Canadian counterpart.

The practical implication: any streaming strategy that treats Canada as one market will fail in Quebec. The French-language audience demands French content, French interfaces, and French customer support — and they have stronger loyalty to services that provide it.

Source: CRTC/Nordicity Discoverability Report 2026; MTM.

Section 6: How Canadians Watch — Devices, Multitasking, and Context

The living room still matters for premium content. thinkTV data shows that TV/Smart TV is the preferred screen for Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+. YouTube is more evenly split across TV, desktop, and mobile.

But the viewing experience has changed. MTM's fall 2025 data reveals:

61% of online Canadians multitask daily while watching video

Nearly 25% use a second device almost every time they watch

Second-screen activity is overwhelmingly messaging or social media (not content-related)

Less than 15% use the second screen to engage with the show itself

The 18–34 audience is the least likely to own a traditional TV and most likely to rely on smartphones and computers. But this doesn't mean they reject big screens — it means they move fluidly between devices and often discover content on one before finishing it on another.

Source: Numeris/thinkTV fall 2025; MTM fall 2025; CMF/GWI audience synthesis.

Section 7: Internet Access and the Digital Divide

The precondition for all of this is internet access. Statistics Canada's Canadian Internet Use Survey provides context:

92% of Canadians used the internet (2022 CIUS), with the survey covering the ten provinces

Internet use outside census metropolitan areas was 87% — below the national average

Age, educational attainment, and income are strongly associated with more advanced internet use

The territories are measured separately through a Northern Canada survey, limiting direct rural/remote comparisons

This is important for the streaming story because it means Canada's cord-cutting wave is uneven. Urban and higher-income households are more likely to have the bandwidth, device ecosystem, and digital fluency to fully replace cable with streaming. Rural and lower-income households may remain partially dependent on traditional television infrastructure longer.

The question then becomes: is there a solution that works across this divide?

Source: Statistics Canada, CIUS 2020 and 2022.

Section 8: Why IPTV Is the Logical Answer to Canada's 2026 Viewing Reality

When you lay all the data side by side, a clear pattern emerges:

Binge behavior is now the norm. With 58% of adults binge-watching monthly and 72% of 18–34-year-olds, the scheduled, linear model is obsolete for most viewers. IPTV delivers on-demand access to 47,000+ live channels and 190,000+ VOD titles — matching the binge format that Canadians prefer.

Genre demand is global, not local. Drama (33%), comedy (15.6%), and reality (13.6%) dominate Canadian demand. These genres are heavily international. IPTV carries content from 50+ countries, giving Canadian viewers access to the full range of global programming — not just what a single platform licenses for the Canadian market.

Platform costs are unsustainable. Stacking Netflix, Prime, Disney+, and Crave costs $57/month. Adding cable pushes the total to $160–$300/month — and 28% of households are already churning subscriptions to manage costs. IPTV consolidates this at $10.99/month with no contracts and no cancelation fees.

French Canada is underserved by global platforms. English-language services compete with U.S. gravity; French-language markets want local content and local support. IPTV that includes 50+ French Quebec channels (RDS, TVA, TVA Sports, Canal D, ICI Radio-Canada) with bilingual support solves the two-market problem that single-platform strategies cannot.

Device fragmentation is solved by device-agnostic delivery. Canadians move between TV, desktop, tablet, and phone. IPTV works on Firestick, Android TV, Samsung and LG Smart TVs, Apple TV, iPhone, Android, and web browsers — with a single subscription that follows the user across every screen.

The digital divide needs a low-barrier entry point. With internet access at 92% nationally but lower outside urban areas, the solution needs to work on moderate broadband (15 Mbps for HD) and on affordable hardware (a $30 Firestick). IPTV meets both conditions.

Key Takeaways

The evidence points in one direction. Canadians want more content, on more devices, in both languages, with no contracts — and they are increasingly unwilling to pay $200/month for it. The technology exists. The infrastructure is in place. The data confirms the demand.

The only question is which service delivers it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is traditional cable dying in Canada?

A: Not dying, but declining. Linear TV still captures 80% of adult TV-set viewing hours, but that drops to 61% among 18–34-year-olds. The trend line points toward streaming dominance within this decade.

Q: How much are Canadians paying for streaming?

A: The average streaming household with 3–4 services pays approximately $40–$57/month. Those who also maintain a cable subscription pay $160–$300/month total.

Q: Which streaming service has the most Canadian subscribers?

A: By TV-set reach, Prime Video leads premium SVODs at 44.3% weekly reach. CBC's digital ecosystem reaches 20.8 million Canadians across all platforms. Crave has 4.6 million subscribers — smaller reach, but the most binge-loyal audience.

Q: Do French Canadians watch differently than English Canadians?

A: Yes. Francophones binge slightly more (61% vs 57%), show stronger loyalty to local and public-service streaming, and face a structurally different content market where U.S. gravity is weaker and local content performs better.

Q: What is the cheapest way to replace cable in Canada?

A: IPTV. An IPTV subscription like Nordix provides 30,000+ live channels for $10.99/month — approximately one-tenth the cost of cable — with no contract, no equipment rental, and no cancelation fees.

Sources

This article draws on publicly available Canadian data from the following sources:

Media Technology Monitor (MTM) — National binge-watching survey data, fall 2025

Numeris / thinkTV — Television and streaming measurement, fall 2025

Parrot Analytics — Canada genre demand and subgenre analysis

CRTC — Annual Broadcasting Highlights — Broadcasting sector structural data

CRTC / Nordicity — Discoverability Report — 2026 report on Canadian content discoverability

Statistics Canada — CIUS — Canadian Internet Use Survey, 2022

Bell Media — Q4 2025 — Crave subscriber and growth data

CBC/Radio-Canada — Q3 FY2025–26 — Digital audience metrics