10 Best VPNs for Canada for Speed, Privacy & Streaming in 2023

Can you really be anonymous online?

Canada is an official member of the 14 eyes surveillance alliance of countries, which is an alliance of countries that spy on their citizens and then share this intelligence information amongst each other.

This means that as a Canadian citizen, you are constantly being surveilled and your internet activities are logged. 

So in order to guarantee your privacy and safety whenever you are connected to the internet, you need to use a VPN that will hide your traffic. A VPN will encrypt your traffic and then channel it through a secure tunnel, thereby making you invisible to the Canadian government and your internet service provider.

In this article we are going to look at the best VPNs for Canada for privacy, streaming and speed, as well as those with the best security features.

I considered a number of factors, like privacy policies and download speeds, among other factors, before settling on these as the best VPNs.

Here’s a quick summary.

1. NordVPN

NordVPN is a VPN service provider based in Panama.

It enables you to access the internet securely and privately. They employ the use of strong, military grade encryption technologies and connection protocols that guarantee you secure access to the internet.

They also have a strict, independently audited, no logs policy that ensures your internet access is private, and your traffic is invisible to your internet service provider.

Here is a detailed review of NordVPN to learn more.

I have included it in this list of the best VPNs for Canada because they have actual servers in Canada. It means if you want to get a Canadian IP address to unblock geo restricted content, all you need to do is connect to any of their servers that are based in Canada.

Currently, NordVPN has more than 5,600 servers that are spread out in 60 different countries. This gives you a lot of options to choose from when connecting to their servers.

With NordVPN servers, you’ll be able to unblock various Netflix content libraries. They also work well with other streaming platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime. I was also able to unblock BBC iPlayer using their UK-based servers. 

It also comes with an inbuilt ad blocker, together with a kill switch to ensure your real IP address never gets leaked online.

If you are into torrenting, NordVPN has dedicated P2P servers that are well optimized for all kinds of torrenting activities.

NordVPN lets you connect up to 6 simultaneous devices. If you want to connect more than 6 devices at a time, your best bet is to configure your router. Since your router counts as one connected device, you’ll be able to connect an unlimited number of devices from your router.

2. Surfshark

Surfshark is a VPN service provider based in the Netherlands.

It enables you to access the internet securely and privately. They employ the use of an AES 256-bit military grade encryption technology and connection protocols that ensure your access to the internet is secure.

They also have an independently audited no logs policy that ensures your internet access is private, thereby making you invisible to your internet service provider.

Here is a detailed review of Surfshark to learn more.

Surfshark is one of the best VPNs for Canada because they have actual servers in Canada. It means if you want to get a Canadian IP address to unblock locally restricted content, you simply connect to any of their servers that are based in Canada.

Currently, Surfshark has more than 3,200 servers that are spread out in 100 different countries. So while it has fewer servers compared to NordVPN, it gives you a lot of options when choosing a country to connect to.

Just like NordVPN, Surfshark is one of the best VPNs for streaming. You’ll be able to unblock various Netflix content libraries without your IP address getting blocked. Using their US-based servers, you’ll also be able to unblock Hulu and Amazon Prime. I was also able to unblock BBC iPlayer using their UK-based servers. So it’s really a great VPN for Canada.

It also comes with an inbuilt ad blocker called Clean Web, together with a kill switch to ensure your real IP address never gets leaked online.

All their servers are also optimized for torrenting, which makes it great for P2P file sharing activities.

Surfshark lets you connect an unlimited number of devices. So you can actually share a single subscription with your friends and family members, of course within their fair usage policy.

3. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands.

It is one of the most popular VPN service providers for secure and anonymous internet access in Canada, thanks to their zero logs policy.

With its headquarters being in the British Virgin Islands, it is pretty much located in a privacy friendly location for a VPN company, which makes it attractive to privacy conscious VPN users.

Check out my detailed review of ExpressVPN to learn more.

It is a great VPN for you if you are based in Canada because they actually have servers in Canada, which makes it very easy to get a Canadian IP address.

ExpressVPN has a total of 3,000 servers that are spread out in 94 different countries. 

So it comes close to Surfshark in terms of server distribution. And even though they both have fewer servers compared to NordVPN, their servers are actually very reliable.

It is evidently a great VPN for streaming.

With ExpressVPN, you’ll be able to unblock Netflix content libraries. Their IP addresses hardly get blocked. 

It’s actually the best VPN for Hulu because using their US-based servers, you’ll also be able to unblock Hulu. It also works with Amazon Prime. If you want to unblock BBC iPlayer streaming, you’ll be able to do so by connecting to their UK-based servers. 

What’s disappointing is ExpressVPN DOESN’T have an ad blocker. Here are the best VPNs for ad blockers, if you want an inbuilt ad and malware blocker.

It DOES have a kill switch but again the kill switch lacks a hard mode, the one you find in NordVPN and Surfshark. So if you manually disconnect from the VPN server, the kill switch won’t block internet access. It only works when the disconnection is caused by a drop in the internet connection. 

On the flip side, they support torrenting on all their servers. But since their kill switch lacks a hard mode, I don’t recommend it for torrenting, just to be safe.

ExpressVPN lets you connect up to 5 simultaneous devices, which is a little low considering it’s the most expensive VPN on this list of the best VPNs for Canada. 

4. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a VPN service provider based in Romania.

It provides you with secure internet access while also ensuring that your internet browsing history is private. But its location is not ideal, because while Romania is not an official member of the 14 eyes countries, it’s a third party contributor to this alliance.

That being said, it underwent an independent audit in December, 2022, by Deloitte, which confirmed that they do not keep any user identifiable logs.

Here’s a more indepth review of CyberGhost.

It’s a brand name in the VPN industry, with a huge collection of 9,500 servers that are located in 91 different countries, making it one of the best VPNs for Canada because they have actual servers in Canada.

They have specialized servers for unblocking Netflix libraries. US-based servers are excellent for Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. As for BBC iPlayer, switch to the UK-based servers. What’s interesting is that all streaming servers are labeled.

Gamers also are not left out because there are gaming optimized servers for you.

Torrenting is a breeze because they have specialized P2P file sharing servers that are also optimized for fast download speeds.

What’s more is that they actually have an ad blocker and malware blocker that is as good as the NordVPN ad blocker. So you’ll be able to block tracking scripts.

You also get a fully functional kill switch that once you turn on, will block internet access should your internet connection drops. But again, if you manually disconnect from the VPN, the kill switch doesn’t block your traffic. So it lacks the hard mode in NordVPN.

CyberGhost allows up to 7 connected devices, which is just a little shy of what NordVPN and ExpressVPN offers. However, I find it sufficient for securing all my devices.

5. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN is a VPN service provider based in Sweden.

It enables you to access the internet privately and securely, even though it’s located in one of the least privacy friendly countries. 

Even though it has not yet undergone an independent privacy audit, they have a clear no logs policy. An independent audit would be great in order to clear any doubts. So I don’t suggest you use it for very sensitive activities like investigative journalism if your are based in Canada.

Here’s a more detailed review of PrivateVPN.

It’s a small company, though. Currently PrivateVPN has a total of only 200 servers that are located in 63 different countries. That being said, this VPN performed so well in a number of tests I conducted, that a number of popular VPNs don’t even come close.

It’s hands down the best VPN for streaming today.

With PrivateVPN servers you’ll be able to unblock Netflix content libraries in all of the major content libraries. Their UK-based servers are the best for BBC iPlayer.

Hulu and Amazon Prime streaming also work smoothly. However, since they only have a handful of servers, it’s not uncommon to experience occasional drops in speed, but it’s not that bad.

A few years ago they used to label specialized streaming servers because not all servers were optimized. However, today all servers are optimized for unblocking the most popular streaming platforms. Just connect any server and you are good to go.

Torrenting also works great. But all P2P servers are labeled. You’ll find them listed together with the static/dedicated IP servers section.

One of the downsides is that PrivateVPN DOESN’T have an ad blocker.

Again, just like ExpressVPN, its kill switch only works for unintentional connection drops. If you manually disconnect from the server the kill switch will not block internet access for your device. Since it performed really well for streaming, I still think it’s a great VPN for Canada.

What’s amazing is that it supports up to 10 connected devices. So it trumps both NordVPN and ExpressVPN. This enables you to secure pretty much all your devices.

Conclusion

So which one should you opt for?

There’s evidently quite a few options when looking for the best VPN to use in Canada for secure and private access the internet.

If you are just getting started with VPNs, and just want a simple VPN that gets the job done in terms of encrypting your traffic, and guaranteeing your security and safety online, then you cannot go wrong with Surfshark.

It is lightweight, and pretty easy to use, and will make your invisible to the Canadian government.

However, if you are an advanced user, or are looking for more advanced security features, like a dark web monitor, and a dedicated IP address for secure remote access, then your best bet is with NordVPN.

It delivers really fast speeds, unblocks most streaming platforms, has dedicated torrenting servers, and overall is much more steady compared to Surfshark. Not to forget to mention that all their apps have very amazing UIs, and hardly ever crash.

Have you used any of these VPNs before?

Please share your experience in the comments below.