Entertainment comes in many different forms and varies from person to person. For some, curling up to binge-watch their favorite movies is entertainment at its finest. For others, it’s devoutly following your favorite hockey team’s progress throughout the season.
Whether movie buffs, hockey fanatics, or online shoppers extraordinaire, most people have found a few websites that feed their interests and keep them busy in their spare time. If you’re looking for a new online place to fuel your hobbies or are simply curious about where Canadians get entertained online, here is a list of the most popular entertainment websites, by category, that Canadians love.
Movies & TV Shows
Canadians love one website more than any other when it comes to watching movies and TV online. The website? YouTube.com. While initially not for feature films, YouTube has grown to encompass just about anything you could want to stream. Just trailing behind YouTube is Netflix.com. While most Canadians only watch what’s available in Canada, savvier users tap into the American Netflix to get even more content.
Surprisingly, the next most popular website in this category after Netflix is IMDB.com and not another streaming site like Crave. This just might be evidence that there are quite a few movie buffs in Canada who love to look up all the details and actors behind a movie and TV show.
Music
Listening to music, podcasts, talk radio, or even audiobooks is more than a way to stay entertained. It’s also a way to enrich everyday activities, from cleaning the house to getting work done more efficiently. So, it’s no surprise that a few popular music streaming websites for Canadians deliver each of these audio content types. But the number one website might surprise you; it’s not Spotify.com — it’s actually CBC’s radio-canada.ca.
News
When brushing up on national and international news, Canada’s go-to website is Yahoo.com. Yahoo offers many different news outlets and topics, making it unsurprising that this has become the space to get informed. CBC.ca and CTVnews.ca closely follow the love Canadians have for Yahoo News.
Online Casinos
Online casinos are experiencing a boon in Canada, generating over $1 billion in one year — and that’s just Ontario. While regulations vary from province to province, BetVictor is the most popular online casino website for Canadians looking for responsible gambling at top sites. It offers a comprehensive online casino with slots, live games, and sports betting.
Shopping
Shopping is a common pastime, and for Canadians, there are several go-to websites for shopping. However, one leads the pack by far: Amazon.ca. Not only is Amazon the most popular shopping website in Canada, but its American counterpart is also the most popular in the United States. Amazon has a strong hold on shoppers across both countries and is worth over a trillion dollars.
Social Media
The top social media website in Canada continues to be Facebook. It’s been Canada’s most popular social media platform for years and has over 29 million Canadian users — about 76% of the population! Meanwhile, its instant messaging platform, Messenger, is the most used social media messaging service. Even newer social media platforms like TikTok or Threads don’t come close to matching the use and popularity of Facebook in the country.
Learning & Education
Beyond websites used to share school work, curriculums, or quizzes (like BrightSpace.com), the top website for learning and education in Canada is Duolingo.com. It’s a website that allows users to learn new languages in a way that feels like a game and is addictive for all the right reasons.
Sports
For Canadians who keep close tabs on their favorite teams and sports, the website that stands out the most is ESPN.com. The number of users for this site is nearly 10 million more than competitors like NHL.com and TSN.ca. Given the wide range of sports it follows and reports on, it’s unsurprising that ESPN has become a go-to for many people.
Video Games
Video games are an incredibly popular form of entertainment, with nearly 17 million gamers in Canada. For those who love video games, Twitch.com is the top website. It allows users to watch live video games and esports and join a community with like-minded gamers. Aside from Twitch.com, Roblox.com and chess.com are both popular gaming websites.
Arts & Crafts
For Canadians who love to dabble in arts and crafts like crocheting, knitting, and weaving, the most popular website is Ravelry.com. It’s a community for like-minded crafters to find patterns and keep notes on their work. Other popular websites in this category are homemade-gifts-made-easy.com and thesprucecrafts.com.
Health & Wellness
When it comes to learning about their health and wellness, most Canadians turn not to Health Canada, as you might expect. No, when looking for tips for getting healthier skin or what to do if they’re feeling sick, most Canadians turn to the American equivalent, NIH.gov. This website, belonging to the National Institutes of Health, has many articles and a host of information on just about every health-related question you could think of.
Food & Drinks
For those who love to get creative in the kitchen, the online world is a beautiful place of inspiration and knowledge, and for chefs, bakers, and mixologists, the top website for finding recipes is AllRecipes.com. Meanwhile, for Canadians who aren’t as savvy in the kitchen and prefer to order in (or for the days when new recipes go awry), SkipTheDishes.com holds the top spot for food delivery.
Entertainment for All Interests
With such a variety in what people enjoy, it’s no surprise that Canadians turn to various websites for entertainment. The online world has created a place where everyone can find something that keeps them entertained in their free time. Entertainment truly is an aspect of life that evokes the saying, “to each their own.”
