Testing out Netflix’s Canadian Service

In the US, movie lovers have been able to enjoy the services offered by Netflix for over ten years. But despite living in a country literally fused onto the US, Canadians had to wait quite a while… with the service having just launched a couple of weeks ago. Though I’ve been the type of person to oppose the thought of streaming video, I decided to suck it up and give the service a go regardless.

Unlike the US version of the service, Netflix in Canada doesn’t offer an option to receive discs in the mail, and for that reason, the service is a bit cheaper, at $7.99. To some, that might still seem kind of high, but after having used the service for a little over a week, I can honestly say that I feel like whittling down my cable to the point where I get only sports, because aside from that, there’s enough content on Netflix for me to fill up my free time.

Compared to the US version, the Canadian movie and TV selection is lackluster, but from what I understand, there are about 1,000 titles available. On a similar token, while there are some brand-new TV series available on the US Netflix, there really isn’t on the Canadian one, with minor exceptions, such as Running Wilde.

I contacted Netflix to get an idea of how content would be rolled out to Canadians, and this is what I was told:

“We’ve priced the service in Canada so low that we aren’t able to provide many new releases. For perspective, when Netflix started streaming in the U.S. in 2007, we had fewer than 2,000 titles available and we’ve grown that ten-fold in three years. That’s not to say we’ll follow the same trajectory in Canada but we will be adding more content over time.“

That doesn’t give us great hope that we’ll reach US-levels of content anytime soon, but as the quote mentions, the US version of the service also started out small, and as all Canadians are aware, it’s not a simple process to get US-based content up here. I can’t recount the number of times I tried to view a video online and couldn’t, simply because I am not in the US (ironically, I am literally one hour from the border).

As a whole though, I am digging the service quite a bit, and have no intentions of canceling it after my trial is over. I’ve already watched a few movies and many TV episodes through it, and have been pleased overall with the quality and the performance. Being able to leave any show and resume it at any time is incredible, and even more so seeing as you can begin watching a show on your TV, then finish it later on the PC. It’s difficult to beat that level of convenience.

If you’re a Canuck like me, do yourself a favor and sign up for the free trial and check the service out for yourself. You can cancel before the month is up and won’t be charged a thing. If you have desire to watch this only on your TV, you’ll first need a set-top device that can handle it, like WD’s TV Live, the latest Apple TV, or other similar devices. If you’re anything like me, you sure won’t regret taking the time to check it out.

Try us free for 1 month. If you enjoy Netflix, do nothing and your membership will automatically continue for as long as you choose to remain a member. See Terms of Use for complete membership and free trial details. You can also simply cancel your account before your free trial ends and you won’t be charged.