Good news for anyone who has been eyeing the Criterion Channel from north of the border: you do not need a workaround. The streaming service from the Criterion Collection is sold directly to Canadians, with the same sign-up page, apps and free trial as in the United States. Here is what it costs, what to check before you subscribe, and the free alternatives already sitting in your wallet.
Yes, it works in Canada
The Criterion Channel’s support page is blunt about where it operates: “The Criterion Channel is available only in the U.S. and Canada.” There is no separate Canadian app and no reseller in between. You set up an account at criterionchannel.com and stream from there.
New subscribers get what Criterion describes as “a free 7-day trial for you to try out the service with no obligation.” According to the same page, you can cancel or pause your subscription at any time, which makes it easy to subscribe for a director’s retrospective and step away afterwards.
Produzioni De Sica, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
James E. Patterson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mathew5000, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What it costs
Criterion lists two plans: US$10.99 a month or US$99.99 a year. Its support page states those prices in US dollars and does not publish a Canadian dollar price, so the amount on your statement will depend on your bank’s exchange rate and any foreign transaction fee on your card. The annual plan works out to roughly nine months of the monthly fee, which is the better deal if you know you will stay.
How to watch
Criterion says you can stream in a computer web browser at criterionchannel.com or use the Criterion Channel app. Its support page lists apps for Roku, Apple devices running iOS and tvOS, Android and Amazon devices, Samsung smart TVs running Tizen, and Xbox. If your television is not on that list, casting from a phone or tablet is the usual fallback.
What is (and is not) in the library
The Criterion Channel is not the same thing as the Criterion Collection on disc. The company’s support page notes that not every film in the Collection is available to stream, and points viewers to individual film pages to check. It also does not say whether the library Canadians see matches the one offered in the United States. Streaming rights are sold country by country, so a title that is on the American service can be missing here.
The practical advice: before paying, use the free trial to search for the three or four films you most want to see. The Channel’s page for Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948), the Italian neorealist story of a father and son searching postwar Rome for a stolen bicycle, is a good test case for the kind of title subscribers come for.
Free alternatives with a Canadian library card
Kanopy. Kanopy is offered through public libraries in Canada, and some of its catalogue comes from the Criterion Collection. At the Toronto Public Library, for example, members with an adult card get 16 tickets a month; films cost two or four tickets, borrowing periods run from 48 hours to seven days, and unused tickets do not carry over. The library lists The Criterion Collection among the producers whose films are available. Check your own library’s website: ticket allowances vary.
NFB. The National Film Board of Canada says about 7,000 of its more than 14,000 works are available free of charge on nfb.ca, in English and French, with apps for television and mobile devices. It is a large free archive of Canadian documentary and animation.
TIFF Cinematheque. If you are in Toronto, TIFF describes its Cinematheque as a year-round programme at TIFF Bell Lightbox, founded in 1990, presenting retrospectives and series of classic and contemporary film. It is not streaming, but it is a way to see the kind of film Criterion streams on a cinema screen.
If you are building a classics habit on a budget, Free Streaming in Canada, Legally and The Classics You Can Watch Free, Legally cover the no-cost options, and Your Streaming Bills, Audited puts the Criterion Channel’s price next to every other plan. For a first programme, try Film Noir, a Starter Kit or Alfred Hitchcock, Where to Start.
Where to watch
- The Criterion Channel: Canada and the US, US$10.99 a month or US$99.99 a year, seven-day free trial. Sign up at criterionchannel.com; apps for Roku, Apple, Android and Amazon devices, Samsung and Xbox.
- Kanopy: free with a participating Canadian public library card. Sign up through your library’s website or the Kanopy app.
- NFB.ca: free, English and French, in a browser or the NFB apps.
- TIFF Cinematheque: in person at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto, ticketed screenings year-round.
Sources
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