Big Brother Canada is a Canadian television reality game show based on the Dutch show of the same name, and the English-Canadian version of the Big Brother franchise.
Following the format originated by the American version of the show, the show features a group of contestants, known as "HouseGuests" who live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. The housemates are continuously monitored during their stay in the house by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones. Throughout the course of the competition, the houseguests compete in challenges to win power and safety before voting to evict each other from the house – eliminating them from the competition. The last remaining houseguest wins the competition and is awarded the grand prize. The series is named after George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four from Big Brother.
The series was originally produced by Endemol and Insight Productions for Shaw Media and Corus Entertainment and hosted by Arisa Cox (who also acted as executive producer between 2021 and 2024), with the first season premiering on February 27, 2013, on Slice. From the third season, the show aired on Global. The series was put on hiatus following the conclusion of the fifth season, but fan support saw the series renewed for a sixth season. The twelfth and final season of this iteration aired in early 2024, with the series cancelled in June 2024.
In 2026, a revival of the franchise was announced, to be produced by Groupe Entourage for Bell Media, hosted by Andrea Bain. The revival is set to premiere on CTV in the spring of 2027. It is set to act as a sister show to the French-Canadian celebrity edition, titled Big Brother Célébrités, with both being produced by Entourage for CTV and Noovo, out of the same house and production facilities in Montreal.
Rules and format There are a number of rules imposed on the HouseGuests competing in the series. The participants are under constant audio and video surveillance, and are required to wear personal microphones at all times. Contestants have no access to phones, television, internet, magazines, newspaper, and are prohibited from contact with those not in the house. Described as a "social experiment", the concept of the show forces people to live in a home with people who may share differing ideals, beliefs, or prejudices. The doors to the house remain locked at all times, though a HouseGuest is free to quit the game whenever they choose; however, once leaving the house, they are not permitted to re-enter. Should a contestant break the rules of the game, they could be expelled and immediately removed from the house. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely.
Each week, the HouseGuests compete in several competitions in order to win power and safety inside the house, before voting off one of the HouseGuests during the eviction. The main elements of the format are as follows: Head of Household (HoH): At the start of each week in the house, the HouseGuests compete for the title of Head of Household, often shortened to simply HoH. The Head of Household for each week is given luxuries such as their own personal bedroom and the use of an MP3 player, but is responsible for nominating two of their fellow HouseGuests for eviction. The Head of Household would not be able to compete in the following week's Head of Household competition; this excludes the final Head of Household competition of the season. Power of Veto (PoV): After the nominees are determined, the Power of Veto competition is played, with the winner receiving the Power of Veto. If a HouseGuest chooses to exercise the Power of Veto, the Head of Household is responsible for naming a replacement nominee. The holder of the Power of Veto is safe from being nominated as the replacement nominee. Veto Players: During seasons 1–6, only six HouseGuests competed for the Power of Veto each week; the Head of Household and both nominees would be guaranteed to play, alongside three others selected by a random draw. From season 7 onwards, there would only be 5 veto players (2 nominees, and 3 randomly drawn HouseGuests) with the HoH prohibited from playing until the Final 5 round. Eviction: On eviction night, all HouseGuests must vote to evict one of the nominees, with the exception of the nominees and the Head of Household. The eviction vote is by secret ballot, with HouseGuests casting their votes orally in the Diary Room. In the event of a tied vote, the Head of Household will cast a tie-breaking vote publicly. The nominee with the majority of the votes is evicted from the house.
Upon reaching the middle point in the game, the evicted HouseGuests go on to become members of the "Jury"; the jury is responsible for choosing who wins the series. The members of the Jury remain sequestered from the outside world and usually live in a remote villa until Finale Night. The jury are not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that may include strategy or details regarding nominations. The amount of HouseGuest serving as Juror has varied throughout the series but will typically involve the last 7 evicted HouseGuests. The final Head of Household competition is split into three parts; the winners of the first two rounds compete in the third and final round. The Final Head of Household will solely determine the final evictee. Once only two HouseGuests remain, the jury members cast their votes for who should win the series.
History The Big Brother franchise was first seen in Canada in 2000, after Global acquired the rights to air the United States edition from CBS. The series has also been broadcast on the former sister network, CH. A French-Canadian version of Loft Story, the France-produced version of the series, premiered in 2003. The show was succeeded by an official Quebec-produced edition of Big Brother in 2010, which aired for one season.
Global/Slice iteration (2013–2024) Global's then-parent company, Shaw Media, announced on May 30, 2012, that an English adaptation of the series would launch in Canada on the cable channel Slice. The network later confirmed that live feeds from the Big Brother house would be available to Canadian viewers for free, unlike the subscription-based United States edition. Big Brother Canada was initially set to premiere on February 18, 2013; this was later pushed back to February 27. The show was greenlit for a second season following the ratings success of the first; a new house was built prior to the launch of the second season. It was confirmed after the conclusion of the second season that the show would be moving to Global.
Following the show's fifth season, it was announced by Global that the series had been placed on an indefinite hiatus for undisclosed reasons. The announcement led to backlash from fans of the series, who petitioned to bring the show back on air. Less than two months after the announcement, it was confirmed that the series would be returning for a sixth season in 2018 due to the large amount of fan support. Prior to the launch of the sixth season, a third House for the series was built with the same layout as the previous one. The seventh season of the series was confirmed by host Arisa Cox in June 2018. It premiered in March 2019.
Season 8 saw many series firsts for the Canadian franchise as two HouseGuests had to be removed due to a violation of house rules and production abruptly ended on March 24, 2020, due to the restrictions brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, culminating in a season finale airing on April 1, 2020, with no winner being proclaimed.
The series dropped the Live Feed component of the show with the eleventh season.
Hiatus On June 27, 2024, the series was cancelled after twelve seasons due to a combination of factors, including declining audience trends, a need for more sponsor support, and rising production and licensing costs.
CTV iteration (2027) On June 4, 2026, Bell Media announced a revival of the franchise. It is set to premiere in spring 2027, with casting details to be announced at a later date. Along with the production of the local version, CTV also became the broadcaster of the American version from 2027. The new series will be produced by Groupe Entourage for CTV and Crave and hosted by Andrea Bain, a co-host of The Social. The revival series will serve as the English-language sister show to the French-Canadian edition, Big Brother Célébrités, with both being produced by Entourage for Bell Media.
Series overview
Notes
Notable contestants
In total, there have been 164 HouseGuests to compete in Big Brother Canada. In addition to this, there have been seven potential HouseGuests that did not enter the house and eight HouseGuests that have competed in two seasons. Season one HouseGuests Jillian MacLaughlin and Emmett Blois went on to participate in the fourth season of The Amazing Race Canada; the duo came in second place. Blois later went on to enter the Big Brother Mzansi house in South Africa as a guest; he remained in house for a week, attempting to cause trouble among the contestants. Demetres Giannitsos and Dane Rupert hold the record for the most Head of Household wins in a single season with five, while Kevin Martin, Adam Pike and combined HouseGuests Nick & Phil Paquette hold the record for most Power of Veto wins in a single season with four. Giannitsos, Martin, Paquette brothers, Pike, and Rupert are all also tied for the most total competition wins in a single season, with seven each. Martin, alongside HouseGuests Ashleigh Wood, Kaela Grant, Rohan Kapoor and Todd Clements are the only HouseGuests to win three consecutive Power of Veto competitions. Anthony Douglas has spent the most time in the house of any HouseGuest, with a total of 138 days. Douglas is also the first contestant to make it to Final 2 in two seasons and was runner-up for both. Season 9 winner Tychon Carter-Newman is the first black houseguest to win Big Brother Canada, and the second (after Celebrity Big Brother 2 winner Tamar Braxton) to win a season of Big Brother in North America.
Companion shows Following the announcement of the series, it was confirmed that the spin-off series Big Brother Canada: After Dark, would air alongside the show. Originating from the United States show of the same name, it provided a live look into the house and aired on Slice.Big Brother After Dark – TV Shows – Slice The series began airing exclusively online following the fourth season. The Big Brother Side Show began airing alongside the second season of the show in 2014. Originally hosted by Cox alongside former HouseGuests Gary Levy and Peter Brown, the show featured interviews with the weekly evicted HouseGuest and aired immediately following the eviction episodes. It was confirmed in 2016 that Sarah Hanlon would replace Levy as co-host of the series. The show was cancelled in 2017 prior to the fifth season of Big Brother Canada, and was replaced instead by a Facebook chat with Cox following each eviction episode.
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