The Best VPNs for Canada

NordVPN has 440 servers in Canada, which is one of the largest Canadian server networks on the market. Only PIA has more.

Servers are located in Montreal (Québec), Toronto (Ontario), and Vancouver (British Columbia), and are all RAM-based (diskless).

This means that no hard drives are used (HDD o SSD), and therefore no data is actually stored on disk. Instead any usage data is held in temporary memory and regularly wiped.

Combined with NordVPN’s verified logging policy, you can use the VPN with complete confidence that what you do online will not be tracked or stored by the service.

We tested NordVPN with the most popular Canadian streaming services, and these are the results:

As you can see, NordVPN delivered flawless results, unblocking every geo-restricted content platform in Canada.

We streamed the NFL on DAZN Canada using NordVPN without issues.

Around the world, the VPN also works with another 16 Netflix regions, Disney+, HBO Max, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and many other popular services.

Videos, both live and on-demand, loaded quickly and streamed without buffering thanks to NordVPN’s excellent speeds connecting into Canada.

For example, from New York to Vancouver, our internet speed dropped by only 3%. Across the globe, slowdowns averaged out at 14%, which very few VPNs can match, let alone beat.

As we’ve already said, NordVPN operates one of the most private and secure server networks in the industry.

If you’re in Canada and are concerned about your online privacy and security, then NordVPN is a great option to consider for your added protection.

With its non-intrusive logging policy and excellent record in keeping your IP address concealed, NordVPN will shield you from government overreach and ISP data collection.

To be clear, the VPN service does retain a small amount of session data for 15 minutes after you disconnect from a server, but this information is not enough to compromise your privacy.

NordVPN is also very secure and meets our strict security standards. It uses the ChaCha20 cipher to further encrypt your internet connections, and it regularly commissions and passes third-party security audits.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned user, NordVPN’s apps are enjoyable to use, especially on smartphones and tablets.

If you want to stream geo-blocked content on large-screen devices, you can also make use of it dedicated apps for Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and Android TV.

The consistent interface across all of NordVPN’s apps makes it really easy to use the service no matter the device you use.

The one downside to NordVPN is its desktop apps, which have an unnecessarily cluttered interface.

In an effort to display the server map, Threat Protection, and Dark Web monitor all on the home screen, the end result is damaging to user experience.

NordVPN’s macOS software.

Another frustrating aspect of using NordVPN is its ‘Pause’ function: when you go to turn off the VPN, rather than simply disconnecting you, the app first offers option to pause the connection.

To fully switch off the VPN, you have to scroll all the way down and click/tap ‘Disconnect’. This adds an annoying extra step to a process that doesn’t need one, quite frankly.

Differently to ExpressVPN, NordVPN doesn’t provide a dedicated router app, which would make using it with game consoles and Roku sticks a lot easier.

Instead, you’d have to manually configure the VPN on your home router, but honestly you’re better off using ExpressVPN.

Just like NordVPN, ExpressVPN gives you access to anonymous IP addresses from Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

The key difference is that ExpressVPN’s servers connect much quicker than any other VPN we’ve tested, even NordVPN.

In just under 3 seconds, our IP address had changed to a Canadian one, while NordVPN’s apps took well over 5.

And ExpressVPN’s servers are just as secure, using RAM to instantly destroy any VPN session data.

Also, the service’s Canadian servers support ‘ShuffleIP,’ a technology that further increases your privacy by changing your IP address (but not your location) every time you visit a website or open an app.

We tested ExpressVPN with the most popular Canadian streaming services, and these are the results:

ExpressVPN successfully bypassed almost all Canadian content geo-blocks, with videos loading instantly and streaming at the highest possible resolution.

ExpressVPN can access Canada’s Netflix content library from abroad.

The only blemish to an otherwise excellent performance was its failure to access Fubo Canada from abroad. This is the one of the extremely rare times where ExpressVPN can’t beat NordVPN.

Internationally, ExpressVPN continues to be one of our go-to VPNs for India, Australia, the UK, and the US.

Its smooth access to 18 Netflix regions and popular international platforms like JioHotstar, 9Now, 7Plus, BBC iPlayer, and Sky Go, is simply unmatched.

Once again, ExpressVPN and NordVPN were neck-and-neck in terms of speed, too. Both VPNs will barely affect your internet speed, sometimes leaving to you wonder whether the VPN is actually on!

Connecting to nearby servers, ExpressVPN is even slightly faster than NordVPN, with a fantastic 2% slowdown, compared to its rival’s 4%.

Connecting to Canada from outside the country, we average a speed loss of just 5%, which is slightly worse than NordVPN’s 3%, but an outstanding result nonetheless.

ExpressVPN is the only VPN that almost claim to be plug-and-play. Its apps are so well designed and intuitive that getting them to change your IP address is child’s play.

The software’s UI is pretty much identical across every platform, with the home screen featuring a large connect button surrounded by secondary options to access the full server list, the previous last location, or the nearest (fastest) server.

ExpressVPN’s apps for macOS and iOS side by side.

Unlike NordVPN’s apps, ExpressVPN doesn’t try to put its additional features or add-ons in front of your face.

Equally, ExpressVPN’s device compatibility is unrivaled, with apps for all popular devices, including a VPN router app that lets you assign different IP locations to different devices on your home network.

PIA VPN counts 3,000 servers across Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. No other VPN has these many servers in Canada.

There is a separate server for the Ontario region broadly, but Montreal and Vancouver covers Quebec and British Columbia provinces.

PIA’s Canada VPN server list on mobile.

With such an extensive server park, we’ve never had any server congestion issues, and our average download speed dropped by only 6% connecting to Canada from overseas.

Speeds were generally slightly slower than worse than NordVPN and ExpressVPN, but still better than most other VPNs on the market.

We tested PIA VPN with popular Canadian streaming services and these were the results:

Despite having a server specifically for Canadian streaming, PIA failed to work with most Canadian streaming platforms.

We only had success accessing CBC Gem, CTV, and Télé-Québec outside of Canada. All other attempts were detected and blocked by the streaming services.

At least, PIA is a lot better at unblocking non-Canadian content platforms, including US Netflix, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer.

It also works very well with ESPN+ in the US, which shows many NHL regular season games, and therefore is useful for bypassing NHL blackouts in Canada.

We used PIA VPN to bypass NHL blackouts on our laptop.

While PIA’s lacklustre streaming performance may put off avid streamers, its ability to protect your online privacy is undeniable thanks to a proven no-logs policy that’s been verified in multiple court cases.

Its secure ChaCha20 encryption, via the WireGuard protocol, will ensure your data transfers are undecipherable, and protect you when using public WiFi networks in Canada, in the US, or abroad.

PIA’s no-logs policy, fast connections speeds, and wide range of security settings are exactly what torrenting enthusiasts need from a VPN.

PIA is a great VPN for anonymous torrenting.

Your PIA subscription will also include MACE, a reliable ad and tracker blocker that effectively prevents websites and advertisers from tracking you online.

PIA is one of the best value VPNs available. It only costs $2.03/mo over 39 months, which is a lot more affordable than NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

That being said, this comes at the cost of limited streaming capabilities. If accessing region-locked Canadian streaming services is your main priority, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are by far the better choices.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking to hide your IP address in Canada, or want to access foreign geo-blocked content, then PIA is definitely worth considering given its bargain price.

Windscribe runs the largest free VPN server network in Canada, with endpoints located in Montreal (Quebec), Toronto (Ontario), and Vancouver (British Columbia).

Windscribe’s free server locations in Canada.

While the service covers just as many cities as NordVPN, ExpressVPN and PIA, the number of servers is vastly inferior and therefore the chances of server overloads is higher.

This is exactly what we experienced while using Windscribe: very fast speeds at times, but unstable connections that fluctuated on regular basis.

At the best of times, speeds into Canada slowed down by only 6% loss, but occasionally they reduced further, causing our stream to lose sharpness.

This mostly happened mostly during high-traffic sporting events, for instance while watching blackout NFL games on DAZN Canada from the US.

We tested the free version of Windscribe with popular Canadian streaming services. Here are the results:

Windscribe unblocked many Canadian streaming services, and we can safely say it’s by far the best free VPN for watching DAZN Canada and Fubo.

Windscribe’s free Canada server unblocks DAZN.

As our results show, it wasn’t smooth sailing across the board, though, with issues accessing Crave, TSN, and Canada-only Netflix titles.

It would be slightly unfair to expect more from Windscribe’s free service. But, considering its success unblocking US content platforms, we were secretly hoping the service would repeat itself in Canada, too.

Windscribe’s free service is a great option to anonymize your internet activities and further secure your connections.

The VPN does log more data than our very best VPN picks, including your bandwidth usage, but we’re still comfortable recommending Windscribe since none of the internet data it collects is personally identifiable.

From a security standpoint, Windscribe uses best-in-class ChaCaha20 encryption and the industry’s VPN protocol of choice, WireGuard.

We’ve repeatedly tested Windscribe’s encryption (using Wireshark) and our data transfers have always been properly encrypted.

You’ll fine the same security and privacy standards across all the VPN’s free apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and Linux.

Windscribe’s free Chrome and Firefox extensions are also worth shouting about. They include useful add-ons such as an ad and tracker blocker, as well as user agent and time zone spoofing.

Windscribe’s browser extension has an ad and tracker blocker.

PrivadoVPN’s free servers in Montreal delivered the fastest internet speeds we’ve seen from a free VPN. Whether it was connecting to a nearby or a far away location, its performance was fantastic.

Our internet speed fell by just 8% connecting into Canada from abroad and 3% within Canada.

The numbers clearly speak for themselves, with PrivadoVPN’s free service even giving top-tier VPNs like NordVPN and ExpressVPN a run for their money speed-wise.

Offering just one location in Canada is very limiting, though, and you have to wonder how long its Montreal servers will be able to perform at these levels.

Below are our streaming results while connected to PrivadoVPN’s free Canadian IP address:

Unblocking Canadian geo-restricted content with PrivadoVPN is a mixed bag, clearly. The service performed well accessing free-to-air services like CBC Gem, Citytv, and TVA+, but struggled with subscription services like Netflix, DAZN, and Fubo.

This is due to the VPN service not refreshing its free Canadian IP addresses regularly enough, in order to evade the more sophisticated VPN IP blocking measures of paid streaming platforms.

Having a single Canadian server location, in Montreal, also doesn’t help.

At least the content we could access streamed in full high-definition, thanks to PrivadoVPN’s outstanding speeds.

Internationally, the free VPN service also works with US Netflix and several other US content platforms, like Peacock, HBO Max and Hulu.

PrivadoVPN’s free Los Angeles server streaming Peacock from Canada.

In addition to its fast connection speeds, PrivadoVPN further secures your web traffic through the use of AES-256 encryption.

Combine that with its privacy-friendly logging policy, and in PrivadoVPN you have one of the most reliable free VPNs for torrenting.

That being said, the free VPN needs to add to its scarce range of privacy and security settings. It should also allow free users to use the service’s browser extensions, which are currently only reserved to paying customers.