Best VPN Canada: Security and Speed Tested!

Canada might seem like a friendly nation with internet freedom, but it has some of the stringent cybersecurity and online surveillance laws in the west. This is due to the government’s attempt to fight against terrorism. Call it what you may, it is a breach of the user’s privacy nonetheless.

In such conditions, it is safe to say that a VPN is the best tool for boosting online security. That is why we have rounded up the 7 best VPNs for Canada in 2021.

Other than online security, a virtual private network (VPN) is a handy tool for accessing geo-restricted streaming sites like HBO, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Peacock TV, and more in Canada.

If you’re short on time, you can read a brief overview of the 7 best Canada VPNs in 2021.

7 Best VPNs for Canada (In-Depth Analysis)

We have tested over 150+ VPNs to find the best VPN service for Canada. After thorough testing, we have shortlisted 7 top providers that are best to use in Canada. These VPNs have been tested on various performance criteria including, security, encryption, speed, geo-blocking, refund policies, and more. You can check out the details of the testing methodology below.

1. The Best VPN for Canada – ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is the best VPN provider for Canada owing to its 3000+ servers, and powerful features such as a kill switch, OpenVPN protocol, and much more. It even offers 5 VPN server locations in Canada – located in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. In short, it is arguably the most trustworthy VPN you can have if you are a Canadian.

ExpressVPN has a wide server coverage with servers in over 94 countries and 160+ locations worldwide. Its global server network makes ExpressVPN a good VPN for security, unblocking, and a lot more.

ExpressVPN features amazing unblocking ability and works with all major international platforms, such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. It can also unblock US-based services like Peacock TV and ESPN+ in Canada. You can also access BBC iPlayer with ExpressVPN from Canada.

Not only international content but the local Canadian content can be easily accessed by its 5 servers in Canada. With ExpressVPN, you can access Canadian TV, Crave TV, CBC, Global, NTV, and more abroad.

It is also one of the fastest VPNs in the market. On its US-New York server, it managed to output a fast speed of 85 Mbps (on 100 Mbps base internet connection speed). It is more than enough to stream Ultra HD content and to download large files. It also offers a Lightway VPN protocol for best performance and security.

The provider understands the privacy issues facing Canadians and aims at offering ultimate privacy and anonymity. It offers various protocols along with 256-bit AES encryption, SHA256 authentication, and 4,096-bit RSA keys. These VPN protocols work towards boosting security by encrypting all incoming and outgoing connections.

ExpressVPN is a secure option for privacy-focused individuals in Canada and the safest VPN service in 2021. It is one of the few VPN companies based in the privacy-friendly jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands.

It also offers IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak protection. To confirm ExpressVPN’s leak protection, we conducted an IP leak test by connecting to its US – New York server. It masked our real IP and showed the IP of the server we connected to, thus showing no leaks.

ExpressVPN also offers a Smart DNS feature called “MediaStreamer” service that unlocks streaming platforms from all around the globe without burdening your connection with encryption. It’s best for devices that don’t support VPN like Smart TVs, Apple TV, PlayStation, and more.

It offers a 30-day refund policy, so you can test this service free of cost and cancel your ExpressVPN subscription if you believe the service isn’t for you – which is highly unlikely as it is the best provider on the market. For details about its deals and special discounts check out our in-depth ExpressVPN review.

2. Best Value VPN for Canada – Surfshark

Surfshark is a great value VPN for Canada, famous for its affordable pricing costing only $2.21/mo and versatile features. It offers a network of more than 3,200+ servers in 65 countries. With Surfshark, you also get 3 Canada VPN server locations – Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto.

With its international servers across the globe, you can access geo-restricted content like Hulu, HBO Max, Vudu in Canada, BBC iPlayer, ITV, Spotify, YouTube TV, and many in Canada. Similarly, you can also access local Canadian content such as CBC Television, CTV Television Network, Citytv, and TVA, from abroad using Surfshark VPN Canada servers.

Apart from unblocking, this VPN provider also packs amazing features and security protocols. There is strong 256-bit AES encryption, kill switch, CleanWeb (adblocker), WhiteLister (split tunneling), and IP/ DNS leak protection. Surfshark is also located in the safe jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands –  a place with no mandatory data retention laws.

It is also compatible with a wide range of devices, including Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, router, Smart TVs, and more. You can find the installation guides in our Surfshark review.

It also supports unlimited devices at the same time, so you can connect as many devices as you want on a single subscription. The best part is, it is currently available for only $2.21/mo if you purchase its 2-year subscription. This is an excellent deal for a VPN, especially with a 30-day refund period to boot.

3. Secure VPN for Canada – NordVPN

Next up we have NordVPN, the best secure VPN for Canada owing to its double VPN 256-bit encryption that keeps your internet traffic encrypted at all times. NordVPN boasts 5,200+ servers in 59 countries. With so many servers, you’ll easily unblock major streaming sites like Hulu, HBO, and Sling TV in Canada. You can also unblock Netflix with NordVPN.

It also offers 480+ servers in 3 Canadian locations, i.e., Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. With such a huge server network in Canada alone, there is not a single local content that you can not unblock with this VPN.  We could easily access the popular ones, including Great-West Television, Noovo, Omni Television, Baton Broadcast System, Northern Television, etc. 

Since it is based in Panama, a country with no data retention laws, your online activity will not be tracked or collected by the government. Canadian users can consider themselves safe online while using NordVPN.

It also features obfuscated servers, kill switch, split tunneling, OpenVPN, and even offers dedicated IP addresses for maximum security. You also get various other features like Double VPN, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Onion Over VPN, and a lot more.

It supports 6 devices simultaneously and offers a no-questions-asked 30-day refund policy. Overall, it is one of our recommended VPNs. Check out our NordVPN review to find out what else we like about this provider.

4. Best Streaming VPN for Canada – IPVanish

IPVanish is one of the best streaming VPN services for Canadians with excellent unblocking and bypassing technology. It offers 1600+ servers in 75+ countries that help you unblock US Netflix, Hulu Live TV, Hotstar, ESPN, Disney+, Oxygen TV in Canada, and other streaming services. In Canada, it offers 55+ VPN server locations  – Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

We could easily unblock US Netflix with IPVanish’s American servers. It is one of the fastest VPNs around with amazing VPN speeds. It gave a download internet speed of 63.31 Mbps on a 100 Mbps base connection, which was more than enough to stream Netflix in Ultra HD quality.

If you want to view Canadian local content such as A-Channel, Télé-Québec, CTV 2 Alberta, and TFO, then IPVanish’s 55+ Canada VPN servers would be more than sufficient for you. It also offers unlimited bandwidth, so you don’t have to worry about your VPN usage.

IPVanish can help you turn invisible on the internet with its military-grade 256-bit encryption and privacy policy. Some of its features include kill switch, privacy check, password generator, and SugarSync. It also offers a SOCKS5 proxy for safe torrenting in Canada.

IPVanish is compatible with a wide range of devices including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, and more. It is also a popular choice among Kodi users. In fact, IPVanish is one of the best VPNs for Kodi and the best VPNs for firestick Canada. Its app is remote-friendly, making it a great choice for remote-control devices.

IPVanish is also one of the affordable options for Canada as it only costs $3.96/mo which makes it the third-cheapest VPN service on this list. With one IPVanish account, you can connect unlimited devices. You can check our IPVanish review for more details.

5. Best User-Friendly VPN for Canadians – CyberGhost

CyberGhost is an easy-to-use VPN for Canada with powerful features. It offers dedicated apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Fire TV, and more. These apps are easy to install and navigate around. CyberGhost features a cool UI with a dark theme and a funky layout.

If we talk about its server network, CyberGhost has more than 7,000+ VPN servers in over 90 countries. What’s best about CyberGhost is that it offers optimized servers for streaming, gaming, and torrenting. Let’s say you want to unblock Hulu, you can simply connect to its Hulu server. You can also watch NBC in Canada or access Voot in Canada using CyberGhost’s optimized servers.

In Canada, CyberGhost has 341 servers in 3 Canadian cities. With servers available in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto, you can access your local favorite TV channels, including HGTV, History, MTV, TSN, Teletoon, TVOntario, and many others.

CyberGhost also uses strong 256-AES encryption and offers leak protection. We conducted a DNS leak test, and it passed. It showed the DNS address of the server we connected to.

It also supports 7 devices on one account, so you can use it on multiple platforms at the same time. Learn more about this VPN in our CyberGhost review.

6. Best VPN for Torrenting – PIA VPN

Private Internet Access is the best VPN for torrenting in Canada with thousands of P2P servers, & a SOCKS5 proxy. It has a server network that consists of 35,500+ servers that can help you stream Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, ESPN+, Sling TV, channel4, and other services in Canada.

PIA VPN has 3737 servers in Canada that can help you unblock local websites and content from abroad. These servers are located in Toronto, Ontario, and Vancouver.  You can unblock local streaming platforms such as Crave, HBO Canada, Starz Canada, Super Écran, and Fairchild TV.

We tried streaming Netflix US with PIA, and it worked flawlessly. However, we did realize that Private Internet Access can only unblock limited Netflix libraries, which includes Netflix US, UK, and Canada.

They have a strict no-log policy, meaning that the provider keeps no tabs on what you do on the internet. Privacy is hard to come by in Canada with the enforcement of Bill C-51, according to which all ISPs are required to keep the data of every citizen for 6 months.

PIA also offers an amazing feature called MACE that acts as an adblocker. Apart from that it also offers an automatic kill switch, port forwarding, and Handshake Naming System for anonymity. You can check out our PIA VPN review for more details.

 7. Best Encrypted VPN for Canadians – VyprVPN

VyprVPN is a Swiss-based VPN service offering 700+ in 70+ countries. It is best known for its broad range of security protocols and encryption, including remarkable technology called Chameleon protocol. This feature uses OpenVPN 256-bit protocol to help you bypass DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) to avoid aggressive censorship and blocks.

It only has 1 server located in Toronto, Canada. Meaning, with VyprVPN, you can have unrestricted access to local streaming content such as Crave, Super Channel Fuse, CP24, CPAC, and BNN Bloomberg, and Télé-Québec from abroad.

Its cluster of over 700 servers lets you unblock popular streaming services worldwide, including Netflix, Amazon, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Foxtel, ABC GO, Euro Sports, and many others.

A combination of multiple features such as VyprCloud, VyprDNS, Chameleon, and Kill-Switch makes it a great companion for anyone residing in Canada to protect themselves from the prying eyes of the ISP, and government agencies.

It also offers IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leak protection that we checked through rigorous testing. It passed all the tests, ensuring privacy. It is also one of the cheapest VPN client on the list. Check out our VyprVPN review for more details.

Is VPN Legal in Canada?

Yes, it is 100% legal to use a VPN in Canada, like in most countries worldwide (there are some exceptions, like China, Iraq, North Korea, and the UAE). There are no laws in Canada that ban the use of VPN.

Whether you want to enhance your digital security, hide your internet activity from prying eyes, stream geo-restricted content, or stop Internet Service Providers (ISP) from throttling your bandwidth, it’s completely legal to use a VPN in Canada.

On that note, do remember, unblocking geo-restricted content outside goes against the terms of service of some streaming platforms like Netflix, but it is not illegal. Similarly, torrenting is not legal in Canada. Similarly, we do not encourage illegal or harmful activities.

Testing Methodology: How we tested the best Canada VPN services in 2021

When selecting the best overall VPN service in Canada, you need to look for certain criteria/features that we have highlighted below:

• Servers: Numbers of servers and their locations (within Canada and outside Canada) to unblock geo-restriction worldwide.
• Encryption: A strong 256-bit encryption is super necessary to keep your online activity hidden completely.
• VPN Protocols: We made sure to include VPNs that offer various encryption protocols such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Shell, (SSH), and more. For more information, you can take a look at the encryption protocols explained in our guide.
• Privacy policy: Make sure to read their privacy policy to know if they keep any connection logs and online activities. If they do, then stay away from that provider.
• Automatic kill switch: Choose a VPN that offers a kill switch feature. This feature will disconnect your internet if, by any chance, a VPN connection drops. Your ISP won’t know if you were accessing any website that the government blocks.
• Money-back guarantee: A refund policy is a good way to test out the best Canadian VPN service. Make sure to read their refund policies because not all virtual private networks offer a refund on crypto payments. ExpressVPN is one of the few providers that offer a no-questions-asked refund policy that also covers bitcoin payments.

8 Reasons Why You Need a best Canada VPN in 2021

If you are thinking, “Do I need a VPN in Canada?” then the answer is “yes.” Let’s be real for a second, Canada is one place where you shouldn’t take your online privacy for granted.

Allow me to explain…

If we ask you to picture Canada, what comes to your mind? Friendly people, heavenly scenery, and mouthwatering maple syrup, right? But what if we told you that there is a darker side to the country’s existence.

Ever since Edward Snowden uncovered the U.S led NSA’s secret surveillance programs, other members of the 5 eyes were brought to light. Canada is an active member of the 5 eyes alliance. Meaning it will share its citizens’ information with member countries.

Here are some of the reasons why you need a VPN in Canada:

1. Canadian Parliament Passes ‘C-51’ Anti-Terror Bill

The Canadian parliament has come up with a controversial bill that will seriously harm Canadian users’ online privacy.

The Antiterrorism Act 2015 bill states that the government will monitor every activity of yours to make sure you are not involved in any “terrorist” activity. In this scenario, Canadians’ privacy is now more threatened than ever, necessitating the user of privacy-enhancement tools like VPNs.

2. Canadian Parliament Passes ‘C-11’ Bill

Bill C-11, or the Copyright Modernization Act, is an amendment to the Canada VPN law for copyright that has broadened the definition of copyright infringement. Under the amended law, breaking digital locks on content even for personal or educational use is a crime.

This means that you can conform to fair dealing policy but still be penalized if found breaking the digital lock on the content.

3. Bypass Surveillance

Canada may not be as cruel with its censorship policies as China, but it poses a serious threat to your online security.

Since it is a part of Five Eyes – an intelligence alliance that comprises the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, the user’s online privacy is torn to pieces by the Canadian and other member authorities.

The best Canada VPN can help you protect against unwanted snooping and surveillance to some extent by the Five Eyes intelligence agencies. VPN providers are considered an epitome for online protection since the protocols are hard to break by, and the encryption is impossible to decode. They also use various VPN routing methods to make sure no one can trace your online traffic.

4. Unblock Netflix US, Hulu, HBO Max & more in Canada

Geo-restriction can seriously be a pain in the neck. Even though Canada doesn’t have too many restrictions on what streaming sites you can or cannot visit, some websites are still inaccessible in Canada like HBO Max and Hulu.

Fortunately, with the help of VPN service providers, you can change your IP address to a different location and access geo-restricted streaming services in Canada on your VPN device.

For example, you can change your real IP address to US, if you want to access exclusive US streaming platforms in Canada. Similarly, if you want to access Voot, ZeeTV, or more, you can change your IP to India. This way you can also connect to a Canadian server and access local websites abroad.

Here are some additional US exclusive streaming sites that are geo-restricted in Canada, and cannot be accessed without a VPN:

• Pluto TV
• LogoTV
• Fandor
• Popcornflix
• ShoutFactoryTV
• USTVnow
• CNBC
• Adult Swim

To access these websites, we recommend using ExpressVPN, as it offers 1080+ streaming optimized servers in the US.

5. Avoid snooping from your ISP

Even if you’re least bothered about surveillance agencies collecting your personal data, your ISP snooping on your online activities doesn’t sound too ethical, does it?

Just imagine, all the sites you visit, whatever you purchase or contact online, are all being logged.

If you’re wondering how this is possible, let me explain. With the help of your IP and DNS requests your computer makes, your ISP can literally see EVERYTHING you do online. Your valuable data can be used to monitor your online behaviours or can be sold to would-be digital marketers.

That said, a VPN can help you avoid all this by masking your IP and passing all of your DNS requests through their own encrypted DNS servers. Another VPN topology called EtherIP is part of the FreeBSD network stack that encapsulates data packets over the connection for security.

6. Canadian Supreme Court has Approved Internet Censorship

In 2017, a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada approved a company’s efforts to force certain websites’ blocking. While it is a particular case and technically not related to VPNs or internet privacy, it does show that the legal system in Canada can, anytime, lean strongly towards complete online censorship in the future.

The decision was troubling and posed the danger of having set a perilous precedent in the country. Decisions like these shed important light on VPNs’ need in today’s world, where any access can be taken away from you at any time.

7. Increasing Cybercrime in Canada

Cybercrime is becoming a pressing issue in Canada as there has been a sharp rise in the number of targets. According to a report by IBM, the total cost of cybercrime for Canadian businesses was $4.50 million in 2020.

In fact, Canada was 3rd on the list of countries with the most security breaches. Cybercriminals use vulnerabilities in software and online platforms to steal information through extortion and fraud.

The threat is not only faced by big companies alone. For example, according to the Canadian Survey of Cyber Security Cybercrime, in 2017, 64% of the educational institutions in Canada were impacted by cybercrime to steal financial or personal information.

The time has come for Canadian businesses and individuals to use security tools like a VPN to protect against such threats. As mentioned above, a VPN encrypts your online traffic, thus protecting against dangers lurking online. Your VPN data is routed through several servers making it untraceable.

Most VPNs on the list also offer additional features like HTTPS proxies, SOCKS5 proxies and Transparent proxies. Transparent proxies are used by businesses to authenticate users on public Wi-F- and block certain content.

8. Torrenting in Canada

Torrenting is illegal in Canada. Torrenting has always been a major attraction among Canadians. At one point, Canada had the highest percentage of Torrent users. The Canadian government did well to limit a percentage by cracking down on these users.

The government started sending out these letters, which basically means you are being sued for copyright infringement.

But did you ever wonder how did the government know if these users’ were downloading torrents? That is through your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your ISP tracks everything you do over the internet because they track your IP address.

The only way to mask a user’s real IP address is by using the best virtual private network in Canada. Most VPNs provided in the list also offer a Split Tunnelling feature, like ExpressVPN. It allows you to split the internet traffic that you want to show to your ISP and what traffic you don’t want to reveal.

Some VPNs also use a Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) technology to allow a VPN user to use two layering technologies for data protection.

VPNRanks does not encourage copyright violation.

VPNs you should avoid in Canada

There are tons of VPNs out there that claim to be the best in protection and speed. However, not all VPNs are secure as they don’t offer strong encryption and a no-logs policy. Similarly, most offer only a handful of features that are not enough for online protection.

On that note, here are some VPNs that you should avoid using in Canada:

Hola VPN

Hola VPN has a bad history in the VPN industry. A few years back, Hola was found selling its user’s bandwidth to botnets for conducting DDoS attacks. Basically, Hola users were acting as “botnet-for-hire”. Apart from carrying out distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, botnets were also used to distribute pirated media content. For details, check out our Hola VPN review.

Opera VPN

Opera VPN is another VPN that you should avoid in Canada. It has an invasive logging policy and logs a lot of user data. Opera VPN is not actually a full VPN, as it only encrypts your traffic within the browser only. Similarly, there is no leak protection so your IP address is not secure. You can learn more about why we don’t recommend this provider in our Opera VPN review.

Best VPN Canada – FAQs

Final Verdict

If you’re living in Canada or planning to visit, your online activities are always going to be under the radar 24/7. Even worse, accessing blocked sites could prove to be a total nightmare. That is unless you have the best VPNs for Canada at your disposal. Based on our extensive testing, we would recommend getting ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and NordVPN to deal with Canada’s mandatory data retention laws.

Again, our top recommendation for Canada is ExpressVPN. By opting for ExpressVPN, you can get access to all the popular streaming services, including Netflix US, HBO Max, Hulu. It can also help you protect against increasing cybersecurity threats in Canada and evade government surveillance at the same time.

VPN Guides for other countries:

• United States of America
• United Kingdom
• Australia
• New Zealand