Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Streaming in Canada - statistics & facts
Many years ago, streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify took the entertainment world by storm and greatly altered the way in which consumers view media content. Canada has been one of the quickest countries to embrace the streaming trend, only behind the United States in terms of subscription video streaming penetration rate. Recent surveys suggest that Canadian adults spent over one hour listening to music via streaming services. Both streaming music and video have quickly established themselves among the most popular online activities for Canadians, and this development is not likely to reverse.
The rise of digital audio consumption in Canada extends beyond music streaming. As the most popular digital audio platforms, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music have also been offering podcasts for years, weekly podcast listening nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024 .
Although differences between generations exist, the trend of a growing music and video streaming market in Canada is expected to continue its success story. The sustained development in revenues and user numbers suggest that streaming will further solidify its position as the primary resource of media consumption.
Video streaming
As of early 2025, the vast majority of households in Canada subscribed to two or more subscription video-on-demand services. As SVOD platforms have a large library of content, online platforms are slowly pushing traditional cable video providers out of the market. Netflix is the most popular among digital video services, with around three in four Canadians viewing the service as of December 2024. By comparison, the domestic offer Crave reached 25 percent of the population. In addition to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Crave, free streaming services served with ads, such as YouTube and Pluto TV, are becoming more and more popular, especially among younger generations.Audio streaming
Streaming audio has experienced similar success in the Canadian market, evidenced by the fact that music streaming services reached nine million users in total in 2024, and this number is forecast to continue to increase in the upcoming years. Despite the overall growth in streaming, adoption rates differ significantly across age groups. According to a survey from 2024, over one third of Canadian consumers reported not using any music streaming service, with the figure being the highest among those aged 60 and older. In contrast, half of 18-to-29-year-olds used free streaming services, while even more had a subscription.The rise of digital audio consumption in Canada extends beyond music streaming. As the most popular digital audio platforms, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music have also been offering podcasts for years, weekly podcast listening nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024 .
Although differences between generations exist, the trend of a growing music and video streaming market in Canada is expected to continue its success story. The sustained development in revenues and user numbers suggest that streaming will further solidify its position as the primary resource of media consumption.
