A VPN can also help you access your bank accounts in Canada if you’re traveling abroad. However, not every VPN is good enough. Here are some of the best VPNs for Canada: NordVPN is the best VPN for Canada that offers an expansive server network, robust security, and strong encryption. It can unblock all major streaming providers and is incredibly reliable. But, there’s still quite a bit of content that’s not available to Canadians. Some popular streaming services, such as Hulu, for instance, aren’t available in Canada. Whether you want access to cheaper subscriptions or need to unblock restricted content, a VPN can help you do that! But with so many VPNs, it’s hard to decide on the best choice . We tested 20+ VPNs to find the best VPNs for Canada in 2023. Here’s our full rundown.
The Seven Best VPNs for Canada in 2023
Based on our rigorous testing, NordVPN is the best VPN for Canada in 2023. This is a fantastic VPN that doesn’t just encrypt your data, but also offers servers around the globe, helping you easily bypass geographic restrictions. Whether you need a VPN for work purposes, or just need one for personal use, NordVPN is an excellent choice in all regards. However, it’s not the only one. There are several VPNs that work well in the country. Here’s a table that shows our top VPNs for Canada, and how they compare with each other.
1. NordVPN: The best VPN for Canada overall
Features:
Works on six devices simultaneously 5,200+ servers in 59 countries Unblocks Hulu, HBO Max, and others Dedicated IPs available 30-day money back guarantee
NordVPN is the best VPN for Canada. Headquartered in Panama, it’s one of the top no-log VPNs that offers excellent encryption, great speeds, and an extensive server network. NordVPN encrypts traffic using AES-256 encryption and offers a choice of several VPN protocols, including NordLynx. It’s based on WireGuard, and offers incredibly fast performance. It can easily unblock all major streaming providers, including those that aren’t available in Canada, such as HBO Max. Other features include an automatic kill switch, Onion over VPN, dedicated P2P servers, and a MultiHop feature that allows you to run your connection via a double VPN. Threat Protection is also an excellent feature in NordVPN; it monitors your traffic and protects against malware or phishing attacks. If you need a VPN for remote work purposes from the country, NordVPN is also an excellent pick. You can connect to a server anywhere in the world, and if you’re traveling outside the country, NordVPN also has 480 servers in Canada! Check out our in-depth NordVPN review for more information about this excellent VPN provider.
2. Surfshark: The best budget VPN for Canada
Features:
Unlimited simultaneous connections 3,200 servers in 100 countries CleanWeb removes ads and trackers Bypasser allows specific apps to bypass the VPN 30-day money-back guarantee
Surfshark comes second on our list of the best VPNs for Canada. If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, you can’t go wrong with this VPN. They even have servers in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal! Despite it’s low price, it’s easily one of the fastest VPNs right now. If you need a budget VPN to unblock streaming services or Netflix libraries from other countries, go with Surfshark. Moreover, Surfshark also has special P2P servers for torrenting. And, you don’t have to sacrifice downloading speeds either, as Surfshark supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard. For Canadians who regularly travel to restricted regions, like China, Surfshark’s NoBorders mode can help you circumvent blocks and access your regular sites. For added protection, there’s also a kill switch and each of its servers are configured with DNS leak protection. Surfshark has a verified zero logs policy and uses RAM-only servers. It even supports two-factor authentication, if you don’t want others accessing your VPN. Check out our detailed Surfshark review for detailed information about this VPN.
3. CyberGhost: The best beginner-friendly VPN for Canada
Features:
Up to seven simultaneous connections 7,000+ servers in 90 countries Dedicated NoSpy servers Optimized gaming servers 45-day money back guarantee
CyberGhost is a great VPN service to use if you’re new to the world of VPNs. For a very low price, CyberGhost unblocks streaming services including BBC iPlayer and Hulu with ease. Like other top VPNs on this list, CyberGhost also supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard. It has an automatic kill switch and uses AES 256-bit encryption. And, if you’re an avid gamer, CyberGhost also offers dedicated gaming servers. For increased security, CyberGhost has partnered with Intego to offer you a malware, spyware, and ransomware blocker. Luckily, these features are easy to find in the CyberGhost app since the UX is incredibly clean. Interested in learning more about this VPN? Check out our in-depth CyberGhost VPN review.
4. ExpressVPN: Excellent VPN for Canada with robust security
Features:
Five simultaneous connections 3,000+ servers in 94 countries TrustedServer technology ensures zero logs Threat Manager blocks trackers and ads 30-day money-back guarantee
ExpressVPN has been a top-performing VPN for many years. With AES 256-bit encryption and an array of VPN protocols — including the super-fast Lightway protocol — this is a great VPN to use in Canada. While ExpressVPN is on the expensive side in terms of subscription costs, it still performs exceptionally well. They use TrustedServer technology to ensure that data is never written on their servers. ExpressVPN is fully leak-proof, offers obfuscated servers, and even has an excellent password manager. If you want to unblock streaming sites or region-locked content, ExpressVPN can easily help you with that. More importantly, you can also install the VPN on your router, letting you encrypt all traffic, and essentially protecting all connected devices. Learn more about this fantastic VPN in our comprehensive ExpressVPN review.
5. IPVanish: A secure VPN for Canada with local IPs
Features:
Unlimited simultaneous connections 2,000+ servers in 51 countries Verified no-logs VPN SOCKS5 proxy maintains speed and security 30-day money back guarantee
IPVanish is a great VPN for Canada! With local Canadian servers in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver, you can encrypt your internet connection with barely any speed delay. You can choose from six different protocols, including OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, and IKEv2. IPVanish has excellent security features, including a kill switch and DNS leak protection. It also has an automatic startup feature which activates the VPN whenever internet traffic is detected. An added bonus to purchasing an IPVanish subscription, is the fact that even the cheapest subscription includes VIPRE antivirus for added protection. If you use IPVanish on your Android phone, it comes with split tunneling too. Check out our full review of IPVanish for more details about this VPN.
6. Private Internet Access: Canada VPN with largest server network
Features:
Ten simultaneous connections 33,000+ servers in 84 countries Open-source VPN Dedicated IPs available 30-day money-back guarantee
If you’re looking for a quality VPN service that’s reasonably priced and offers an expansive server network, Private Internet Access (also known is PIA) is the VPN for you. PIA VPN is a very secure VPN with a built-in kill switch, an adblocker (PIA MACE) and a very strict no-log policy. PIA also offers In 2019, PIA was bought by Kape Technologies, which also owns CyberGhost and Zenmate. Despite the fact that PIA’s headquarters are located in the United States, PIA has never handed over any information to the authorities. In fact, they’ve received the ioXt certificate for transparency and security. Finally, PIA is a very affordable VPN. For a two-year plan, you pay $2.19 per month. Customer service is very helpful, despite the fact that they only work via email and submission form. Like many of the best VPNs for Canada, PIA comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. Interested in learning more about Private Internet Access? Read our full PIA VPN review.
7. Atlas VPN: Canada VPN with free plan available
Features:
Unlimited simultaneous connections 750+ servers in 30+ countries Free VPN available Supports P2P file-sharing 30-day money-back guarantee
Finally, we want to highlight Atlas VPN, a relatively new VPN service that stands out with its free VPN offering. The free variant does have a data cap of 2GB per day. If you find this to be insufficient, the paid version is also an excellent VPN for Canada. Moreover, if you select a Canadian IP address and connect to a local Canada server in Montréal, you’ll be able to speed up your VPN speeds. To create an Atlas account, all you need to provide is an email address and payment information. Atlas VPN offers a choice of the popular IKEv2 and the incredibly fast WireGuard protocol. The server choice isn’t as diverse, but their infrastructure is relatively sound. While Atlas VPN doesn’t have as many features or servers as the other Canada VPN services in the list, the free version more than makes up for this deficit. It’s also a great way to try out the VPN first. The premium plan does come with special SafeSwap servers for additional privacy, as well as a double VPN feature called MultiHop+ that allows you to connect to multiple servers in Europe and North America. Wawnt to know more before you sign up? Read our comprehensive Atlas VPN review.
How We Picked the Best VPN for Canada
In order to score highly, a VPN has to give excellent results on multiple fronts, from online security to ease-of use. When selecting the top 7 Canada VPNs, we looked at the following factors.
Security features
A VPN gives you the peace of mind that your data is safe from prying eyes. All of the VPNs on our list were rigorously tested in Canada for DNS and WebRTC leaks, for instance. We also looked at the security features of each VPN, such as whether each VPN has a kill switch, offers split tunneling, uses AES 256-bit encryption, and hides your IP address.
No logs VPN
Since Canada is part of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliance, you want to make sure your VPN doesn’t store your data anywhere it can be retrieved. You want to pick a privacy-conscious VPN that’s ideally been independently audited.
Speed and daily use
Of course, if you’re going to purchase a VPN, you want to be able to use it with ease. You don’t want a significant drop in browsing or streaming speeds. All of the best VPNs for Canada performed exceptionally well while streaming content and for casual browsing.
Server network
The larger your VPN’s server network, the better your chances at unblocking content you’re interested in. We only listed VPNs that have a diverse server network, with servers in different parts of the globe.
Why Do I Need a VPN in Canada?
In comparison to places like Iran or Russia, Canada has a very open media landscape. You don’t need a virtual private network to watch independent news or access your social media accounts. However, a VPN has many benefits for users in Canada. For instance, if you’re looking to stream region-restricted content or access a streaming service that isn’t available in Canada, a VPN can help you do that. With a VPN, you can change your IP address to one of any other country. With a VPN, your internet connection is much better protected. This is because your IP address, which is used to identify and track you online, can be easily changed to the IP address of a VPN server located somewhere else. This keeps your internet traffic hidden from Canadian internet providers and makes online banking, sending emails, and browsing online a lot more secure. On top of that, you can unblock streaming services with a VPN and watch shows that are otherwise not available to you, such as American Netflix. In light of Canada’s new Online Streaming Act, a VPN will also give you access to a wider range of content. With Bill C-11 (if it passes), the new Online Streaming Act in Canada, the content you’ll find on audio-visual platforms like Netflix and YouTube might change. This is because the bill grants the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the authority to manipulate what content gets recommended to you.
Bill C-11: Why is Canada censoring the internet?
The aim of Bill C-11 is to promote Canadian content. Already, the CRTC in Canada has pretty strict regulations for broadcast media when it comes to “CanCon.” Radio stations, for example, must dedicate 35% of their air time to Canadian artists. For TV, about 50% needs to be Canadian programming. Now, the Canadian government wants to regulate audio-video streaming services to make them prioritize CanCon online, too. Bill C-11 grants the CRTC the power to manipulate “discoverability,” or, in other words, the content you get recommended based on what you like. This means they can push Canadian authors to your recommended feed on YouTube or Netflix. On top of that, large corporations might be forced to pay to the Canadian Media Fund if they wish to continue to operate. There are several issues with this bill:
It’s nearly impossible to create good guidelines for what “Canadian content” really means. Giving the CRTC such power sets a bad precedent when it comes to net neutrality. If they can censor this, what else might they censor in the future? Though the bill claims to regulate large companies and not individual users, it will affect user-generated content.
This is why it’s advised to invest in one of the best Canada VPNs mentioned in this article.
Are VPNs legal in Canada?
Yes, VPNs and other tools to bypass censorship, such as a proxy server, are still legal in Canada. At some point down the line, the Canadian government might start targeting VPN service providers, especially in light of Bill C-11. At the moment, however, using a virtual private network is perfectly legal. Unfortunately, not every single VPN is safe. There are certainly some to avoid.
Four VPNs to Avoid in Canada
Some VPN services do more harm than good, either because they have faulty software or are not as careful with your private data as they should be. Here are some VPN providers to avoid in Canada:
Can I use a free VPN in Canada?
Generally, we’re careful to recommend using a free VPN service. Though there are some great free VPNs out there, they often come with limitations. The main risks include:
Poor privacy policy: A free VPN might store your data and sell it to third parties. Data caps or bandwidth throttling: Most free VPNs usually offer limited data volume or throttle the bandwidth. Small VPN server network: Free VPNs often have limited server networks.
Having said this, there are some great free VPNs you might explore for Canada.
Encrypt Your Data With A Canada VPN
Using a virtual private network in Canada opens up a world of possibilities. With a Canadian VPN, you’ll be able to stream content from all around the world and bypass any regional internet restrictions. On top of that, you’re much better protected against cyber threats, as well as surveillance tech. For Canada, these are the top 7 VPN providers in Canada: If you’re worried about staying safe online, have a look at additional online security practices you can implement. With an automatic kill switch, special P2P servers, and a Double VPN (MultiHop) feature, it deserves the #1 spot in the list of best VPNs for Canada.
