Best VPN for Canada (2024): 10 Tested Services

My name is Dean Chester. I’ve been using and researching VPNs for 8 years.

Recently, last October, I got a message from my Canadian friends asking me to give feedback on a certain VPN service. They wanted to watch US Netflix and US Hulu as well as use torrents safely.

I got interested in finding out all about the peculiarities of using VPN in Canada and I decided to publish a review of VPN services that are good for that wonderful country on cooltechzone.com.

(*Updated: my friends found a more suitable VPN in this article and are still using it on one shared subscription)

After conducting a number of tests, I have determined 5 best paid and 5 ‘’not bad’’ free VPNs to help my friends and other people in need to:

• unblock any geo-restricted content unavailable in Canada;
• use torrents and apps that give access to free content (Kodi, Popcorn Time, etc.);
• browse the Internet anonymously and do other things enabled by VPN technology.

Best VPNs for Canada

1. ExpressVPN: This premium VPN service is highly popular not only in Canada but all around the world.
2. NordVPN: The service caters for everyone's need. Torrenting, unblocking restricted content, data protection: you’re welcome to make use of all these peculiarities.
3. Surfshark: Install the software of this VPN on your device for safe torrenting and geo-restriction bypassing. Pay only $2.49 per month.
4. CyberGhost VPN: Its Romanian jurisdiction allows customers to stay secure and private in Canada.
5. ZenMate: The main features that make this VPN worth using in Canada are high level of privacy, safe torrenting, and Kill Switch.
6. hide.me: Hide your IP with the help of this free VPN. No logging policy, high speeds, AES-256 encryption are available.
7. ProtonVPN: Use one of the free countries to protect your data in Canada. Useful features: 256-bit encryption, Linux support, no traffic limits.
8. Windscribe: Despite a free version of the VPN limits traffic to 10 GB per month, it is quite suitable to protect yourself in Canada.
9. VPN Gate: Totally free VPN that does not limit traffic. But there are certain disadvantages.
10. Kaspersky VPN: It provides secure connection to its customers. It offers high speeds, no logs policy, strong AES-256 encryption.

Best VPN services for Canada

According to the findings of the research and user reviews, ExpressVPN is the #1 VPN service for Canada. NordVPN and three other providers with sterling reputation tag along with it.

To choose the leaders I’ve applied an innovative VPN Spiral method coupled with Canadian laws analysis.

1. ExpressVPN: perfect choice

Visit ExpressVPN

The provider with 10-year experience, one of the largest VPN services around the world, stable support of “premium” service quality despite incredible challenge.

Why is it so good for Canada?

It’s a combination of the proven no0logs policy (in fact - ExpressVPN uses diskless servers that can’t keep any logs), safe BVI jurisdiction, speeds over 100Mbps, up-to-date functionality and crystal-clear reputation.

Features

• Netflix unblocking as well as access to other video services
• 100% traffic protection from internet provider
• Hides URLs of visited websites
• Great speeds and stability
• Best 24/7 support service
• Support of all platforms including TV, game consoles, and routers
• 5 devices per one subscription
• Proven no-logs policy (read more in the full review)

*- the price includes a 35% discount when following a CoolTechZone.com link

When subscribing to a 1-year plan, you get 3 more months for free.

Approved for payment:

• Credit Cards
• PayPal
• Bitcoin and 11 more payment options

The provider has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

ExpressVPN’s price compared to other services.

(compared to the same-length subscriptions of the VPNs recommended in this review)

Test results

We have recently tested and compared 10 best VPN providers and ExpressVPN has shown the best results. To enlist the leaders for Canada we’ve taken into account the jurisdiction, privacy policy peculiarities, and reviews of residents and tourists coming to Canada.

The result has proved our hypothesis - capabilities and features of the service meet all demands:

• 100% confidentiality
• Streaming and torrenting support
• Fast speeds

• Jurisdiction outside of “5 eyes” alliance + diskless servers

With this VPN you will easily protect all your devices while staying in Canada!

More about ExpressVPN:

• Full ExpressVPN Review
• ExpressVPN vs NordVPN
• ExpressVPN vs IPVanish

2. NordVPN: service with double VPN

Visit NordVPN

NordVPN has everything that is needed for streaming, torrenting, and other activities the modern user wants to use a VPN for. But what’s more, this service works even in China. Only a few VPN providers cope with bypassing China’s censorship.

What I like about NordVPN is its technological infrastructure. It has more than 5900 servers in 60 countries and is the world’s second-largest VPN. However, it is the most popular one and its popularity grows all the time:

The hallmark of NordVPN is its ability to unblock Netflix and Hulu with any server. The same thing is true about torrenting. You can choose any location and it will protect your entire torrent-activity reliably.

Besides, the provider allows connecting to the Internet not only with a random IP from the country you choose but also with a fixed (or Dedicated) IP as well as using the double protection of Double VPN.

The speeds of some servers that are close to Canada exceed 100 Mbps. But even if you need to mask your IP address with a location you are far from, it’s hardly a problem. I use virtual IP addresses from all around the world and I am more than satisfied with the performance of NordVPN.

NordVPN: Speed tests results

Its strict No-logs policy and Panamanian jurisdiction further improve the reliability of the VPN.

NordVPN: Features and characteristics:

• High level of privacy;
• Reliable data protection;
• Bypassing of geo-restrictions;
• Safe torrenting;
• Apps for all platforms including TV platforms, routers, and browser extensions;
• Kill Switch;
• Outside of the influence of the Canadian authorities.

Prices and plans:

• $4,13 per month ($99.00 for 2 years)
• $4.92 per month ($59.00 for 1 year)
• $11,95 per month with the subscription for 1 month

NordVPN has a 7-day free trial for mobile apps. It does require a credit card and subscribing for a year beforehand. Besides, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You can read the detailed review of NordVPN.

3. Surfshark: New powerful VPN well-suited

Visit Surfshark VPN

Surfshark is a real discovery of 2024. This VPN service that only emerged in 2018, has become one of the best not only in Canada but in the entire world. It has almost all features that NordVPN does (and some of them are even better with Surfshark) while costing as little as $2.19 per month.

The distinctive features of Surfshark are its hassle-free streaming and torrenting support, the new safe Shadowsocks protocol support, the presence of 15 variants of Double VPN pairs and 11 servers with dedicated IPs.

Surfshark controls more than 3200 servers in 100 countries. Their speed allows watching videos in HD as well as seamless torrenting downloads.

Surfshark: Speed test results

Surfshark keeps no logs and is legally located in the British Virgin Islands offshore.

Surfshark: Features and characteristics:

• High level of privacy;
• Reliable data protection;
• Geo-restrictions bypassing;
• Safe torrenting;
• Apps for all platforms including TV and game consoles as well as browser extensions;
• Kill Switch;
• Outside of the influence of the Canadian authorities.

Prices and plans:

• $2.19 per month with the subscription for 2 years ($59.76)
• $6.49 per month with the subscription for 6 months ($38.94)
• $15.49 per month with the subscription for 1 month

Surfshark has a 7-day free trial on its mobile apps, no card required. Besides, there is a 30-day refund.

The advanced features of the provider will help you to get past restricted content safely in Canada!

You can read the detailed review of Surfshark.

4. CyberGhost VPN: Good one-size-fits-all VPN service

Visit CyberGhost VPN

In the fall of 2019, CyberGhost VPN became the largest VPN service surpassing even the giant NordVPN for a while and extended its coverage to 90 countries. Later, the number of its servers fell to 5900.

Why is it good for Canada specifically?

The hallmark of CyberGhost VPN is its dedicated streaming and torrenting servers. These locations are set up precisely to be used as uninterruptedly as possible. Moreover, you can even choose the server that suits your video service or TV channel the best:

A great advantage of CyberGhost VPN is its Romanian jurisdiction. It protects the users’ private data from any potential pressure coming from the authorities. Additionally, Romania is not a member of the political and intelligence alliances that Canada is.

CyberGhost VPN offers apps for all devices including TV platforms and routers. The reliable 256-bit encryption standard, the Smart rules (selecting apps for which the VPN won’t be active), the kill switch being constantly on and the no-log policy make this provider a great choice for all free entertainment content and torrenting.

The speed of a particular CyberGhost VPN server depends on its location. There are fast servers upwards of 60 Mbps and there are ones on which the speed drops to 3-5 Mbps (Hong Kong, Iran, Egypt, and several others).

CyberGhost VPN: Speed test results

CyberGhost VPN: Features and characteristics:

• High level of privacy;
• Reliable data protection;
• Geo-restrictions bypassing;
• Safe torrenting;
• Apps for all platforms including TV and game consoles as well as browser extensions;
• Kill Switch;
• Outside of the influence of the Canadian authorities.

Prices and plans:

• $2.29 per month ($87.75 for 3 years) + 2 extra months for free
• $2.03 per month ($83.76 for 2 years)
• $4.29 per month ($47,88 for 1 year)
• $12.99 per month with the subscription for 1 month

CyberGhost VPN offers a 24-hour free trial for all platforms and a 45-day money-back guarantee – the longest I’ve seen.

You can read the detailed review of CyberGhost VPN.

5. ZenMate: Suitable for torrenting

View ZenMate

Bypassing blocks imposed on free content resources is of the primary importance for Canada. ZenMate helps to safely watch such content without a hitch as well as use torrents.

It has other basic features of good VPNs as well. Thanks to its low price (starting at $2.22) and dedicated servers for P2P connections, I recommend this service for the exchange of free content specifically.

ZenMate also proclaims its streaming support and has a separate list of servers dedicated to it. However, as of this day, the most popular US, UK, and JP locations are unavailable.

ZenMate is built upon the base of CyberGhost VPN. They share the owner, parts of their technological infrastructure and have similar software. Thanks to it, ZenMate supports all major platforms and doesn’t have any “childlike” issues that are common in many simple VPNs.

ZenMate: Speed tests results

ZenMate claims that it keeps no logs. There is a small drawback, though, as this service is based in Germany. This country is a part of the 14 Eyes alliance.

ZenMate: Features and characteristics:

• High level of privacy;
• Reliable data protection;
• Geo-restrictions bypassing (unpopular countries);
• Safe torrenting;
• Apps for all platforms including TV and game consoles as well as browser extensions;
• Kill Switch.

Prices and plans:

• $1.64 per month when subscribing for 3 years ($59.00)
• $4.49 per month when subscribing for 1 year ($53.88)
• $10.99 per month when subscribing for 1 month

You can also read our in-depth review of ZenMate.

Drawbacks of a free VPN

Remember how I said at the very beginning that my Canadian friends had asked me for advice? They had wanted to find a free VPN.

When I asked them why they wanted a free one specifically, they said that they didn’t need anything “super-secure” or fancy. They only wanted a simple VPN for gaming, free content and, preferably, with US and UK streaming support.

But did my friends know the real differences between a paid VPN and a free one? They sure didn’t! Otherwise, they would have known about the 2 main drawbacks that free VPN services have:

1. Low speeds
2. Limited amounts of traffic

The problem is that the main area of expenditure for VPN services is paying for the traffic that goes through their servers.

And what is more traffic-intensive than online gaming and watching and downloading video-content (whether licensed or not)? These areas of using a VPN are the most expensive.

That’s why a VPN service can be as vanilla as it gets, without any modern bells and whistles in its primitive apps or not have any apps at all but it won’t allow you to use its servers for free without restrictions.

There are no exceptions to this rule.

Besides, free VPNs do not care about keeping their users’ private information safe. What’s to stop them from just selling it, for example, to advertising agencies or other interested parties?

The situation is made worse by the fact that most VPNs that are called free are, in truth, anything but. They use a common trick: to create a short free trial which is, most often, limited in some ways. The word “free”, however, is the one being emphasized. A person believes it, signs up, gets disappointed but doesn’t want to search for another VPN again. For many people, it’s easier to buy a subscription.

But don’t despair! If a user can’t afford to pay for a VPN, they can find a free VPN that has the fewest restrictions and a good reputation.

Actually free VPNs are very few and far between. Moreover, they are hard to find. I have tested almost all well-known VPNs and I know which ones are honest and which ones are a nothingburger.

Best free VPNs for Canada

Here are 5 best free VPNs that, at least partially, cope with the current tasks that are important in developed countries such as Canada. This list enumerates mainly free plans of normal VPN services. I will mention only one fully free VPN and that is only because it’s funded by a Japanese university.

1. Free hide.me

Hide.me is one of the fastest free VPNs which has an unlimited free plan and the apps for basic platforms. Good speed for free VPNs is a rarity. I had to test dozens of providers to find a really fast provider.

So, what does Hide.me offer for free? What kind of restrictions does it have?

Restrictions:

• Up to 2Gb of traffic per month
• 4 countries (5 locations)
• 1 simultaneous connection

Overall, Malaysian VPN provider hide.me offers good conditions for a free version. Of course, 2 Gb per month is too little for full web-surfing, but it’s the best that you can find for Canada with good speed. Hide.me is a bad option for P2P because torrenting is forbidden for US locations. Moreover, I couldn’t open some torrent-websites of NL. Read our review of the best VPNs for torrenting.

You can also read our hide.me review

2. Free ProtonVPN

Swiss VPN provider ProtonVPN focuses on high privacy for users and has a free 2 in 1 plan. The first 7 days are a free trial of the “Plus” plan, and after its end, you can use a limited free version without any time restrictions and volume of traffic.

Restrictions (after 7 days):

• Below-average speed
• 3 countries (the US, NL, JP)
• 1 simultaneous connection
• Torrenting is unavailable
• Failed to stream Netflix

So, ProtonVPN is a good alternative to hide.me with lower speed without volume restrictions. “No Logs” policy, reliable Swiss jurisdiction and the lack of problems with security make it suitable for use in Canada.

You can read the detailed review of ProtonVPN

3. Free Windscribe

Windscribe offers a free plan that has the unmatched 10 Gb of monthly traffic. Moreover, special offers are held sometimes on Reddit that allow expanding this limit up to 15 Gb and more.

I did not, however, put Windscribe first because its speed is dreadful. During my tests, I was unable to accelerate it past 0.1-0.2 Mbps. Such a speed makes even text-based websites load for ages, let alone those with video content (they couldn’t load at all). I have made many attempts but not once did the service work as it should have.

Restrictions:

• Very low speed
• 10 countries only

To use it comfortably, one has to buy the Pro subscription. It lifts the speed limit but costs much more than that of many other VPNs.

You can read the detailed Windscribe VPN review

4. VPN Gate: Totally Free

VPN Gate is the only fully free VPN that I can recommend to Canadians.

VPN Gate has two main features that set it apart from other services:

1. It makes the profit not off advertising or selling user data to advertising agencies. Instead, it is funded by the University of Tsukuba, Japan.
2. It doesn’t have any servers save for computers that act like servers offered by volunteers.

Restrictions:

• Can’t be used for torrenting
• Only has a client for Windows. Other OSs are available through third-party apps
• Very few working US locations

You can read the detailed VPN Gate review

5. Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection

Kaspersky knows how to protect your device from any threats. You may use antivirus protection with a VPN for absolute security. However, the antivirus doesn’t have a free version, unlike VPN. Kaspersky VPN offers 200-300MB per day for free, but an active account for the antivirus provides the only 300Mb.

Restrictions:

• 200-300Mb per day
• Limited choice of location

Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection is a quality product from an expert in the field of information security. And it has good conditions of using a free VPN if the location isn’t important. But the Russian jurisdiction of Kaspersky is controversial. On the one hand, it is definitely outside the intelligence alliances that can secretly monitor the citizens and guests of Canada. And on the other hand, Russia is not a friendly country for the US and the region of North America.

You may choose this VPN if for some reason other providers didn’t suit you.

Conclusion

Canada is a beautiful and democratic country with a high standard of living. It has no strict copyright legislation that, for example, its neighbor the US does. However, there are reasons to be using a VPN in Canada as well:

• Accessing free content and torrents if such access is restricted;
• Unblocking geo-restricted content on Netflix, Hulu, and other services and TV channels;
• Safer torrenting;
• Protecting confidential data;
• Public Wi-Fi networks protection;
• The government’s attempts to access private data:

All the bills represented here have been adopted or canceled, or have not been accepted over the last 7 years.

2012 – the modifications relating to digital copyright and the responsibility for its violation were added to the Copyright Act (С-11);

2013 – an attempt to push on Bill C-30, which under the guise of children’s protection was supposed to give the Canadian authorities full powers to monitor the activity and to decrypt the citizens' data records by using ISPs (Internet service providers). It was the fourth attempt since 2010 to authorize access to personal data of citizens.

2015 – adoption of Bill C-51 (Anti-Terrorism Law), which gives the authorities the power to crack or capture the data of any device.

Daniel Therrien, the appointed federal Privacy Commissioner considers that Bill С-51 "opens the door to collecting, analyzing and potentially keeping forever the personal information of all Canadians".It was withdrawn in the same year.

2017 – one more attempt to make changes in the Penal Code of Canada to access private information. It has not been adopted yet.

There is one more serious fact which proves the Canadian government’s been secretly spying on Canadians:

2013 – A federal judge of Canada Richard Mosley criticizes Canadian Security Intelligence Service for the fact that they passed on espionage for Canadians to foreign agencies (“5 eyes” alliance or FVEY).

More information can be found here.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any questions or thoughts about the use of VPNs in Canada, leave your comments below!

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