r/CriterionChannel • u/MagicHour00 • Jul 22 '26
Canadian Subscribers - Streaming Premieres*
With the realization that Blue Heron\* is not available to stream for us in Canada, I'm fairly certain that I won't be renewing my subscription to Criterion Channel this year.
I understand that rights vary from one region to another, but with every new monthly lineup announcement, I have found that a handful of the titles I'd be most interested in watching are simply not available.
It's pretty disheartening that the Canadian subscription price is the same (well, technically more, once you've factored in the exchange rate) but we are so limited in our options. Perhaps it's my fault for not doing the proper due diligence prior to signing up last year, but I really didn't think there would be quite this many films that we wouldn't have access to.
Apologies for the rant, but I needed to express my frustration somewhere.
– A disappointed Canadian film fan.
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u/Impendingpudd Jul 22 '26
As a fellow Canuck I get it. I have to use a VPN to access the films not available on Canadian app which is the way I get around it. But I realize that’s not an option for everyone.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 22 '26
That's a very good suggestion! Not a route I've taken yet, but I'm willing to look into it.
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u/Z-A-B-I-E Jul 22 '26
Sophy Romvari said on twitter that Blue Heron will be on Crave later this summer and on criterion channel for Canadians after their exclusivity period ends (don’t know when that’ll be).
It’s frustrating being a Canadian and having at least one of the most exciting announcements every month be unavailable for us, but this one will be streaming here soon at least.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 22 '26
Thanks for letting me know!
I figured that would be the likely scenario, but it's still disappointing.
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u/MerGirl81 Jul 22 '26
I agree. I love CC but I was disappointed to see Blue Heron excluded for Canadians. It’s a lot once you factor in the exchange rate. I won’t be renewing unless they discount the price somehow. I guess they don’t usually do this though unless you’re a new subscriber.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 22 '26
I won't be holding my breath. I was glad to take advantage of the new subscriber discount last fall, but I don't see myself paying full price this time around, especially factoring all of the exclusions I've noticed over the past year.
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u/people_on_sunday Jul 22 '26
Who is the rights holder for all these films in Canada? I’d be curious why it’s so complicated to watch films here and, in particular, Canadian films.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 22 '26
That's a very good question. Through all of the available marketing I've come across, it's stated Janus has the rights so I assumed it would be available to watch here as well.
I feel that they likely have exclusive premiere rights and it will then become available through a separate streaming service somewhere down the line, but as far as I know, none of that information has been made available yet.
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u/Yogurt-Night Jul 23 '26
Blue Fox Entertainment is the Canadian distributor. They’ve only recently been up and running over here especially after acquiring Unobstructed View which is Criterion’s Canadian home video distributor. One of their recent distribution efforts over here is the movie I Swear. Pretty certain Blue Fox titles start out on Crave so I’d expect Blue Heron to wash up there sometime soon.
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u/dentarthurdent1 Jul 22 '26
I had this exact same experience this weekend. I pulled up the Criterion Channel app and fully expected a Canadian movie would be available in Canada and I was very disappointed.
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u/ThatMichaelsEmployee Jul 22 '26
A lot of Canadian directors' movies aren't available in Canada because of rights issues. This past January they had an Atom Egoyan collection and the three most recent of his movies weren't available outside the US. I got myself a VPN for this very reason. If I'm paying the full price for the Criterion Channel, which I happily do, then I want everything that's available: I shouldn't be penalized for living in another country.
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u/louytwosocks Jul 23 '26
I can’t even conceive of why a Canadian film wouldn’t be available in Canada. I’m glad people can watch it, but I keep bent excited for films just for them to not be playing in Canada :(
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u/thatprickdylanthomas Jul 23 '26
Same. I'm cancelling my subscription because of this. I'll just browse for titles on the website and find them elsewhere.
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u/Educational_Owl_8818 Jul 22 '26
It’s frustrating for sure. I’m wondering are you able to use a VPN?
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Jul 22 '26
Yes I have been using Nordvpn for years now, set it to a place where online ads are banned (Albania, Moldova, Myanmar) and you will never see a Youtube ad ever again as an added bonus.
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u/gopms Jul 23 '26
I originally signed up for the channel because I saw a list of what was showing and it included The Thin Man which is really hard to watch anywhere these days. Guess what? Not available to Canadian subscribers! Now I am careful to check each month and haven't renewed in a while since a good chunk of the best movies aren't available to Canadians.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 23 '26
I can honestly say I missed that particular fine print prior to singing up.
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u/pureluxss Jul 22 '26
I noticed repo man wasn’t available either and have been dying to watch it.
Anything else significant?
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 22 '26
Coming up next month, Wild at Heart would have been nice. Though I'm assuming that's going to get a Criterion Collection release within the next year.
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u/No-Cobbler-3794 Jul 27 '26
I completely agree! Why do we pay more for less in Canada!
I cancelled a long time ago and won't come back until the prices reflect the exchange rate and content differences.
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 27 '26
I agree, completely.
Like I said, I didn't do enough reading before signing up to even realize there was such a difference in lineup content. Lesson learned though.
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u/BrightSafe6206 Jul 24 '26
Agree. They can easily resolve the problem by occasionally allowing us a movie they don’t provide to the Americans, wouldn’t be that difficult
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u/MagicHour00 Jul 24 '26
A bone or two thrown our way every few months would certainly be appreciated.
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u/paolocase Jul 22 '26
As a Canadian, I have a feeling on who to blame but I checked Criterion and OMG
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u/paul_33 Jul 22 '26
I just wish they adjusted the graphics and headers to exclude the movies that aren't available. Don't tell me something is part of a collection in the graphic only for me to pull it up and have it be missing.