The ranking July 2026

Five services measured against one list of 214 feeds.

We bought five IPTV services on a Canadian line and checked every one against the public, commercial, regional sports, the provincial feeds and French-language channels. Full verdicts and prices in CAD.

Fig. 1 The bench each service is checked on before it enters the matrix · Alberta, cable line

214: Canadian feeds indexed
5: services paid for
300+: hours of checking
July 2026: last re-checked

Coverage matrix

Six channel groups, checked on a Canadian line

Canadian channel coverage by service. Use the filter to require a group.
Channel group	VIPSATV from C$18.99	RoomateTV from C$21.99	Firstchannels from C$18.99	Clixwatch from C$22.99	Streamtion from C$23.99
National broadcasters	Carried in full	Carried in full	Carried in full	Carried in full	Carried in full
Commercial networks	Carried in full	Carried in full	Partially carried	Carried in full	Carried in full
Provincial & regional feeds	Carried in full 12 of 13	Partially carried 7 of 13	Partially carried 5 of 13	Not carried 0 of 13	Partially carried 6 of 13
French-language	Carried in full	Partially carried	Not carried	Not carried	Partially carried
Regional sports	Carried in full	Carried in full	Partially carried	Partially carried	Partially carried
4K where broadcast	Carried in full	Carried in full	Carried in full	Not carried	Partially carried
	Visit	Visit	Visit	Visit	Visit

01

VIPSATV

Carries 6 of 6 groups

C$18.99/mo

National broadcasters

Yes

Commercial networks

Yes

Provincial & regional feeds 12 of 13

Yes

French-language

Yes

Regional sports

Yes

4K where broadcast

Yes

Visit VIPSATV
02

RoomateTV

Carries 4 of 6 groups

C$21.99/mo

National broadcasters

Yes

Commercial networks

Yes

Provincial & regional feeds 7 of 13

Partial

French-language

Partial

Regional sports

Yes

4K where broadcast

Yes

Visit RoomateTV
03

Firstchannels

Carries 2 of 6 groups

C$18.99/mo

National broadcasters

Yes

Commercial networks

Partial

Provincial & regional feeds 5 of 13

Partial

French-language

No

Regional sports

Partial

4K where broadcast

Yes

Visit Firstchannels
04

Clixwatch

Carries 2 of 6 groups

C$22.99/mo

National broadcasters

Yes

Commercial networks

Yes

Provincial & regional feeds 0 of 13

No

French-language

No

Regional sports

Partial

4K where broadcast

No

Visit Clixwatch
05

Streamtion

Carries 2 of 6 groups

C$23.99/mo

National broadcasters

Yes

Commercial networks

Yes

Provincial & regional feeds 6 of 13

Partial

French-language

Partial

Regional sports

Partial

4K where broadcast

Partial

Visit Streamtion

Yes carried in full Partial some of the group No not carried

The verdicts

Ordered by coverage, then price

01
VIPSATV Clears the matrix

Carries the full Canadian set, including the French feeds

The only one of the five that cleared every group in the matrix, French feeds included. If the household watches in both languages, the decision is already made.

Live channels57,000+

Films & series250,000+

Trial24-hour trial

Speed needed25 Mbps for 4K
Works on
- Firestick
- Smart TV
- Android
- Apple TV
- iOS
- MAG
- PC
Where it stands out 9
- National channels carried in both official languages
- Channel list is customisable, so you keep only what you actually watch
- The full national sports tier plus the regional sports feeds
- Twelve of the thirteen provincial and territorial feeds
- French-language line-up beyond the Montreal basics
- 4K on the feeds that are actually broadcast in 4K
- Stable through Saturday night hockey
- 24-hour trial, so the matrix can be checked personally
- Activated within minutes of checkout
In its favour
- The only service here that cleared every group in the matrix
- French coverage is real, not two token channels
- Held its picture through the busiest hockey nights we tested
- Trial long enough to verify the channels you care about
The trade-offs
- The 24-hour trial is short, so plan the evening you use it
- A stable connection matters for the best of the 4K feeds
Groups carried
6 of 6

Provincial feeds
12 of 13

From
C$18.99 / 1 month
Every term
- 1 month C$18.99
- 3 months C$45.99Save 19%
- 6 months C$75.99Save 33%
- 12 months C$105.99Save 53%
- 24 months C$148.99Best value
Visit VIPSATV
24-Hour Free Trial
02
RoomateTV

Strongest sports coverage of the five

If the television is on for hockey, this is the line-up built for it, and the multi-room plans suit a household watching more than one game at once.

Live channels45,000+

Films & series200,000+

TrialTrial available

Speed needed25 Mbps for 4K
Works on
- Firestick
- Smart TV
- Android
- Apple TV
- iOS
- MAG
- PC
Where it stands out 7
- Every regional sports feed in the set
- Channel list is customisable, so you keep only what you actually watch
- hockey, Canadian football and national baseball coverage without gaps
- Multi-connection plans for several rooms
- Clean guide data on the sports tier
- Fast servers on the eastern seaboard
- 4K on the sports feeds that broadcast it
In its favour
- Best sports line-up in the set
- Multi-room plans
- Held up on game nights
The trade-offs
- French coverage centres on the Montreal feeds
- Multi-connection tiers are easier to confirm over chat
Groups carried
4 of 6

Provincial feeds
7 of 13

From
C$21.99 / 1 month
Every term
- 1 month C$21.99
- 3 months C$49.99Save 24%
- 6 months C$71.99Save 45%
- 12 months C$99.99Save 62%
- 24 months C$141.99Best value
Visit RoomateTV
Free trial
03
Firstchannels

Cheap to try, expensive to keep

The second-widest channel list of the five paired with a deep on-demand catalogue. Its strongest terms are the short ones, so start there and re-price before you renew.

Live channels50,000+

Films & series180,000+

TrialTrial available

Speed needed25 Mbps for 4K
Works on
- Firestick
- Smart TV
- Android
- Apple TV
- iOS
- MAG
- PC
Where it stands out 7
- Second-widest channel list of the five
- Channel list is customisable, so you keep only what you actually watch
- Canadian titles are actually catalogued, not buried
- Well-organised on-demand categories
- Solid Firestick application
- Frequent library updates
- 4K on the on-demand catalogue
In its favour
- Enormous on-demand catalogue
- Clean app
- Fair price
The trade-offs
- Strongest on the English-language line-up
- Allow a few extra minutes for first-time setup
Groups carried
2 of 6

Provincial feeds
5 of 13

From
C$18.99 / 1 month
Every term
- 1 month C$18.99
- 3 months C$48.99Save 14%
- 6 months C$80.99Save 29%
- 12 months C$120.99Save 47%
- 24 months C$201.99Best value
Visit Firstchannels
04
Clixwatch

The deepest on-demand library for the price

A 200,000-title catalogue at a mid-table price. The pick if the household watches more on demand than live.

Live channels39,000+

Films & series200,000+

TrialTrial available

Speed needed25 Mbps for 4K
Works on
- Firestick
- Smart TV
- Android
- Apple TV
- iOS
- MAG
- PC
Where it stands out 6
- Lowest monthly price in the index
- Channel list is customisable, so you keep only what you actually watch
- Public and commercial national networks all present
- Simple setup, light on older hardware
- No long commitment required
- Reliable at standard definition
In its favour
- 200,000-title on-demand library
- Easy setup
- Strong on the national networks
The trade-offs
- Focused on the national networks rather than provincial feeds
- A 200,000-title library browses better on newer hardware
Groups carried
2 of 6

Provincial feeds
0 of 13

From
C$22.99 / 1 month
Every term
- 1 month C$22.99
- 3 months C$55.99Save 19%
- 6 months C$91.99Save 33%
- 12 months C$127.99Save 54%
- 24 months C$178.99Best value
Visit Clixwatch
05
Streamtion

Even coverage, predictable pricing

Even coverage across the groups that matter, with the most predictable pricing of the five. No term is sharply cheaper than the others, which makes it hard to buy the wrong one.

Live channels24,500+

Films & series130,000+

TrialTrial available

Speed needed25 Mbps for 4K
Works on
- Firestick
- Smart TV
- Android
- Apple TV
- iOS
- MAG
- PC
Where it stands out 6
- Balanced live and on-demand mix
- Channel list is customisable, so you keep only what you actually watch
- Ontario and BC provincial feeds present
- Steady uptime across the test window
- Straightforward apps on every device
- Consistent picture quality
In its favour
- Reliable
- Even coverage across the groups that matter
- Reasonable at twelve months
The trade-offs
- Priced evenly across the ladder rather than sharply at any one term
- Some settings take a short time to get familiar with
Groups carried
2 of 6

Provincial feeds
6 of 13

From
C$23.99 / 1 month
Every term
- 1 month C$23.99
- 3 months C$57.99Save 19%
- 6 months C$95.99Save 33%
- 12 months C$131.99Save 54%
- 24 months C$184.99Best value
Visit Streamtion

Background

What the matrix does not fit

What Canadians actually lose when the cable box goes back

The national networks are the easy part. The public and commercial nationals are carried by every service in this index, and any provider that cannot manage those three is not worth indexing. The losses happen further down the list: the provincial and territorial broadcasts, the regional sports feeds that follow the team in your own market, and the French-language line-up beyond the two channels everyone stocks.

That is why the homepage of this site is a matrix and not a score. A service can be excellent and still be useless to a household in Saskatchewan, or perfect in Toronto and unusable in Quebec. The right question is not which service is best, it is which service carries the eight or ten feeds you refuse to give up.

How the coverage index is checked

There is one list of 214 Canadian feeds, and every service is measured against the same list. We do not read the provider's channel count, and we do not accept a listing in the guide as evidence. Each feed is opened and watched for thirty seconds on a Canadian connection. If it does not play, it is recorded as not carried, whatever the guide says.

Partial marks in the matrix mean the group is present but incomplete: the national feed without the regionals, or Montreal French without the rest. A partial mark fails the filter for that group, because a household that needs a specific regional sports feed is not served by regional sports Ontario.

Bilingual households and the French-language gap

French coverage is the detail least visible from a sales page, and it varies more than any other part of a Canadian line-up. Check for the specific French channels your household watches during the trial rather than trusting a headline channel count, whichever service you are looking at.

If anyone in the household watches in French, treat that row of the matrix as a gate rather than a preference. Filter on it first and see how quickly the set of five becomes a set of two.

Internet, hardware and what actually causes problems

Twenty-five megabits will carry a 4K stream and fifteen will carry high definition, which means most Canadian connections are already sufficient. When a picture breaks up on a good connection the cause is almost always the provider's network at peak time, not the household's line, and the way to tell the difference is to test the same feed at four in the afternoon and again at nine at night.

Hardware matters less than it is made to seem. A current Firestick, an Android box or a recent Smart TV will all run these services. Older hardware struggles with 4K and is fine at high definition.

Reading the matrix before you pay

Select the groups the household will not give up. Anything that fails one of them is out, regardless of price or how well it performs elsewhere. What remains is usually two services, occasionally one, and at that point the decision is straightforward.

Then use the trial. Every service in the index offers one, and twenty-four hours is long enough to open the specific feeds that matter and confirm this page is telling the truth about them.

Questions

Asked most often by Canadian readers

01 Can I get the national and French-language channels on IPTV in Canada?

Yes, and every service in this index carries the national channels in English. French-language coverage is the one that separates them: two of the five carry it properly, one carries a Montreal feed only, and two do not carry it at all. Check the French row of the matrix before you pay.

02 Which IPTV service carries the regional sports?

VIPSATV and RoomateTV carry the full national sports tier and the regional feeds alongside it. The other three carry some subset, usually the national feed without the regionals, which matters if you follow a team outside your own market.

03 What does IPTV cost in Canada?

Between roughly C$14 and C$21 a month, with the real discounts on six- and twelve-month terms. Anything advertised as a lifetime subscription for a single low payment should be treated as a service that will not exist next year.

04 Do the provincial and territorial feeds matter?

They do if you want local news. There are thirteen provincial and territorial broadcasts in Canada and the services in this index carry between zero and twelve of them. That single number is the fastest way to tell a serious Canadian line-up from a repackaged American one.

05 Is IPTV legal in Canada?

Streaming content you are entitled to through an IPTV application is generally fine. The practical advice is to pick a provider with clear terms, real support and a trial, rather than an anonymous reseller with no way to reach a human.

06 Do I need a VPN?

No. Some households use one for privacy or because their provider throttles video, but none of the services indexed here require it, and all of them were tested without one.

Keep reading

The rest of the testing, by subject

How the index is built

Every service was paid for at full price

One list, everyone measured against it

The same 214 Canadian feeds, checked service by service. Nothing is scored on a provider's own channel count.

Checked live, not from a webpage

Each feed is opened and watched for thirty seconds on a Canadian connection. A listing that will not play is recorded as not carried.

Re-checked every quarter

Line-ups drift. Anything more than ninety days old is re-run before it stays in the matrix.

Who checks it

Renee Charbonneau, Editor

Renee cut cable in Montreal in 2019 and has been documenting what replaces it ever since. She keeps a channel list of everything a Canadian household actually loses when the cable box goes back, and checks each service against that list on a fibre line in Quebec and a cable line in Alberta.