The Amazing Race Canada is a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Following the premise of other versions in the Amazing Race franchise, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and around the world. Each season is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of CA$250,000 and a trip around the world.
Commissioned and broadcast by CTV, The Amazing Race Canada is hosted by former Olympian Jon Montgomery, produced by Insight Productions in association with Bell Media and with the support of Profiles Television. The first season aired in the summer of 2013, with the show continuing on a yearly basis – with seasons being produced each spring and airing each summer, except for a 2-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2025, eleven seasons have aired with the show renewed for a twelfth season.
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The Race
The Amazing Race Canada is a reality television competition between at least nine teams of two. Each season is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain clues to help them progress to a Pit Stop, where they are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize while the last team is normally eliminated (except in non-elimination legs). The final leg of each race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins the grand prize consisting of CA$250,000 cash and a trip around the world.
On the airdate of the first season finale it was announced that CTV had ordered another season of The Amazing Race Canada. Casting began in fall 2013 and the second season aired in summer 2014. New to the eligibility requirements for season 2 were clauses that applicants must possess a valid Canadian passport, and be able to travel not only within Canada but around the world; this meant that, unlike the first season, the show travelled to destinations outside of Canada, closer to its American counterpart.
In the second season, Petro-Canada joined as the show's fuel sponsor with the team winning a lifetime supply of gasoline; Scotiabank was the season's financial sponsor. In the third season, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) replaced Scotiabank as the show's financial sponsor. In the fourth season, Air Canada, the show's trip sponsor for the first three seasons, was replaced by Hotels.com; the fuel sponsor was removed. In the fifth season, Sinorama replaced Hotels.com as the show's trip sponsor. In the sixth season, the financial and trip sponsors were removed, and Dempster's Bakery began their sponsorship. In the seventh season, Expedia became the show's new trip sponsor, while Shell Canada's V-Power became the show's new fuel sponsor. In the eighth season, the fuel sponsor and Dempster's Bakery ended their financial support, while Desjardins Group, Subway Canada, Destination BC, GURU Organic Energy, Tourism Richmond, Trans Canada Trail and Marshalls started their sponsorships, with the trip around the world prize for the final leg funded by GURU Organic Energy drinks. In the ninth season, Samsung funded the final leg's cash prize, while Subway Canada, Destination BC, Tourism Richmond, Trans Canada Trail and Marshalls all ended their commercial support. In the tenth season, GURU Organic Energy and Samsung ended their financial support for the world trip and cash prizes for the final leg, while Boost joined as a new energy drink sponsor. In the eleventh season, FUZE Iced Tea funded the final leg's cash prize. After the eleventh season, Chevrolet, the provider of the vehicles since the series' inception, ended its financial support.
Teams
Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 234 contestants have participated in The Amazing Race Canada.
Route Markers
Route Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark places where teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow.
Clues
Clues are found throughout the legs in sealed envelopes, normally inside clue boxes. They give teams the information they need and tasks they need to do for them to progress.
Route Info: A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before receiving their next clue.
Detour: A choice of two tasks. Teams can choose either task and can swap tasks if they find one option too difficult.
Roadblock: A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will challenge the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task.
Fast Forward: A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race.
150 Challenge: A series of special challenges during season 5 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. They did not affect gameplay mechanics except for their relevance in that season's Final Memory Challenge.
Switchback: A series of challenges during season 10, in which notable challenges from past seasons are encountered. They commemorated the 10th anniversary of the series and had no effect on gameplay mechanics.
Obstacles
Teams may encounter the following that may affect their position:
U-Turn: An obstacle where a team can force another trailing team to complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. Teams may use their ability to U-Turn another team more than once throughout each season (as opposed to the American version, which allows only one), as shown in season 3 when Gino & Jesse U-Turned two teams.
Face Off: An obstacle which has all the teams, two at a time, compete against each other in a specific task. The winning teams are gradually given the next clue, while the final losing team must wait out a 15-minute penalty before receiving the next clue. This was introduced in season 3.
One Way: An obstacle where a team can force another trailing team to complete one specific option of the Detour. This was introduced in season 7.
Pass: An obstacle where a team can force a team to wait for another team to get that clue on the pass sign before continuing to race. This was introduced in season 8.
Intersection: An obstacle that indicates two teams must complete further tasks together until a clue indicates that they are no longer joined. This was introduced in season 12.
Legs
At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash, usually in Canadian dollars, to cover expenses during the legs (except for the purchase of airline tickets, which are paid-for by credit cards provided to the teams).
Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes (which for the first three seasons were generally provided by sponsor Air Canada), boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrives last are progressively eliminated until only three teams remain. Most legs comprise three or more challenges, often a Roadblock, Detour and a Route Info Task. The first teams to arrive at the Pit Stop win prizes, usually from the show's sponsors.
The Express Pass allows any team holding it to skip any one task.
In seasons 1, 2, and 8, a number of Express Passes bundled together was awarded to the winners of the first leg of the race; the team that won the Passes must give the other(s) away by a certain later point. In season 1, Kristen & Darren won two Express Passes, one for themselves and gave the second one to Vanessa & Celina. Kristen & Darren ultimately did not use theirs; Vanessa & Celina used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 4. In season 2, Natalie & Meaghan won two Express Passes, one for themselves and gave the second one to Pierre & Michel. Natalie & Meaghan used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 3; Pierre & Michel used their Express Pass to bypass the Roadblock in Leg 6. In season 8, Brendan & Connor won three Express Passes, one for themselves and gave one to Jesse & Marika and another to Franca & Nella. Brendan & Connor and Franca & Nella used their Express Passes to bypass the same final task in Leg 7; Jesse & Marika used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 6.
In seasons 3 and 4, the Express Pass was given out in an optional task in Leg 2 right before the Detour, allowing any team to possibly win it rather than it being a definite award for a first-place finish on the leg. In season 3, Hamilton & Michaelia won two passes, one for themselves and gave the second one to Brent & Sean. Hamilton & Michaelia immediately used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 2; Brent & Sean used their Express Pass to bypass a task in Leg 7. In season 4, Steph & Kristen won two passes, one for themselves and gave the second one to Frankie & Amy. Steph & Kristen ultimately did not use theirs; Frankie & Amy used their Express Pass to bypass the Roadblock in Leg 6.
Rules and penalties
Most of the rules and penalties are adopted from the American edition.
Seasons
The show first aired in 2013 with the first season premiere airing on July 15, 2013 and ending on September 16, 2013.
Places visited
As of the tenth season, The Amazing Race Canada has visited all of Canada's provinces and territories, in addition to eleven foreign countries in Asia, Europe, South America and North America.1
The following are the number of times places (including Canadian provinces and territories) are featured in The Amazing Race Canada.
International
Notes
Reception
Ratings
Until August 28, 2022, all ratings data was provided by Numeris.