Like the United States, Canada has seen the rise of streaming services and the decline of cable TV change its home video landscape. However, Canada has a few unique differences from its southern neighbor that affect its cable and streaming landscape.
I last looked at the state of Canada’s animation-related cable TV and streaming outlets in 2022, but pretty much everything’s changed since I wrote that post, despite only being three years ago. Below’s an updated look at the current state of affairs north of the border.
Note I’m not Canadian, but American, so if I missed anything, please let me know.
Cable TV
For decades, Canada was one of the few countries not to have versions of American outlets like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or the Disney Channel. Instead, Canadian-owned cable networks carried those US networks’ programming. For the most part: Family carried Disney Channel programs; YTV carried Nickelodeon programs; and Teletoon carried Cartoon Network programs. In turn, those US networks would sometimes carry their Canadian counterparts’ shows: Family’s “Life With Derek” and “Naturally Sadie” were staples on Disney Channel; Teletoon’s programs such as “Johnny Test” and “Total Drama Island” were heavily promoted by Cartoon Network in the 2000s and 2010s.
Starting in the 2010s, the aforementioned US networks started to create Canadian versions of their channels (run via Canadian licensees), with programming shifting to those. At the same time, the Canadian cable channels started to face problems, with the 2020s seeing many of them shut down entirely:
- In 2023, Teletoon shut down, with its channel rebranded as Cartoon Network (and the existing Cartoon Network rebranded as Boomerang). The French-language version of Teletoon (“Télétoon”) still exists, though just serves as a French version of Cartoon Network/Adult Swim.
- On September 1, 2025, Corus shut down five channels: Disney XD, Disney Jr., Nickelodeon, ABC Spark (the Canadian version of Freeform), and the French version of the Disney Channel (“La Chaîne Disney”).
- In late October, WildBrain closed down its cable networks: Family, Family Jr., WildBrainTV, and French-language Télémagino. WildBrain plans instead to focus on licensing its shows to third parties, as well as focus on its YouTube channels.
As of this writing, Canada’s major cable TV animation outlets consist of:
- Cartoon Network
- Boomerang
- Adult Swim (as a 24-hour channel)
- Disney Channel
- Treehouse
- YTV
- Télétoon
I note all of the above are owned or managed by Corus. Basically, only Télétoon, YTV, and Treehouse remain as the major Canadian-owned outlets. YTV, once the longtime home of Nickelodeon programming, has dropped such as of last September; its current schedule is now mostly Cartoon Network programming (“Teen Titans Go,” “Amazing World of Gumball”). Treehouse is a long-running preschool programming outlet that aired much of the Nick Jr. lineup, but now seems to be a mix of programming from other sources (mostly “Peppa Pig,” “Batwheels,” “Sesame Street,” and “Paw Patrol”).
The above changes means that there’s now no mainstream cable TV outlet in Canada on which to watch Nickelodeon mainstays like “SpongeBob.” Instead, fans of the Sponge need a streaming service like Paramount+.
National public broadcasters such as CBC and provincial public broadcasters such as TVO (in Ontario; the people who first gave the world “Paw Patrol”) still have kids programming blocks. But otherwise, the state of animation on cable TV in Canada doesn’t seem any better than here in the US. Also, with Corus still facing financial difficulties, the future of the remaining cable TV networks looks bleak. Of course, kids in both countries have mostly stopped watching linear TV in favor of streaming. Speaking of which…
Streaming services
Streaming in Canada, like in the US, is now the main go-to for viewers seeking animation. Going by FlixPatrol, Canada’s five biggest streaming services (by subscribers) are:
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime Video
- Disney+
- Paramount+
- Crave
Public broadcaster CBC also offers a streaming service, CBC Gem; CBC’s kids programming is available through CBC Gem, as well as on CBC’s YouTube channel. In October, CBC launched a 24-hour CBC Kids streaming channel (similar to PBS Kids in the US), also available through CBC Gem or YouTube. For anime fans, Crunchyroll also is available in Canada. TVO has a similar website/24-hour streaming service for kids, TVOKids.
Still, it seems most Canadians are relying on the same streaming services as Americans for animation. The only significant major one unique to Canada is Crave, which carries HBO and HBO Max’s library, plus some material from a few other outlets. Since it inherits HBO Max’s flaws, Crave’s Warner Bros.-related animation library isn’t the strongest; however, unlike HBO Max, Crave carries a number of cartoons from various third parties.
Two minor options worth mentioning are available as add-ons to Amazon Prime Video: StackTV and Teletoon+. The former is mostly live streaming of a handful of Corus-owned cable channels (including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Disney Channel, YTV, and Treehouse) and some on-demand content. The latter is mostly modern and recent Cartoon Network programming, plus some other Warner Bros.-related shows (such as “Batman: The Animated Series” and the “Animaniacs” reboot).
Still, like the US, I suspect most Canadian cartoon fans are mainly turning to Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ (plus YouTube) for cartoons.
Conclusion
A lot’s changed for Canadian TV viewers, but it seems everything’s largely shifted to American-owned or -branded cable TV and streaming services. It’s unclear if the recent boycott of American services by some Canadians (per Trump’s bullying treatment of Canada) will affect streaming subscriptions in the future. As for cable TV, things likely aren’t improving there anytime soon.
Image by Greg Newman from Pixabay
