The Amazing Race Canada
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 and additional prizes from the show's sponsors.
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.
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. 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 cash, as well as two vehicles provided by Chevrolet, along with other sponsored prizes.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 was the fuel sponsor with the team winning a lifetime supply of gasoline from Petro-Canada, and Scotiabank was the financial sponsor. In the third season, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) replaced Scotiabank as the financial sponsor. In the fourth season, Hotels.com replaced Air Canada as the trip sponsor with the team winning a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip for two around the world with Hotels.com, and the fuel sponsor was removed. In the fifth season, Sinorama replaced Hotels.com as the trip sponsor with the winning team winning a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip for two around the world with Sinorama. In the sixth season, the financial and trip sponsors were removed, and Dempster's Bakery began their sponsorship. In the seventh season, Expedia was the trip sponsor and Shell Canada's V-Power was the 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 once-in-a-lifetime trip for two around the world funded by GURU Organic Energy drinks. In the ninth season, Samsung became the sponsor that funded the 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. In the eleventh season, FUZE Iced Tea funded the cash prize.
Teams
Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 224 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 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.Legs
At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash, usually in Canadian dollars, to cover expenses during the legs.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, 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.
- The Assist allows a team to skip part of a pre-selected task in a leg.
Non-elimination legs
Each race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue. The non-eliminated team is required to do a Speed Bump – a penalty task that only the team saved from elimination on the previous leg must complete before continuing on.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.The following are the number of times places are featured in The Amazing Race Canada.
International
;Notes- This count only includes provinces and territories that fielded actual Route Markers, tasks & challenges, or Pit Stops. Transport stopovers and connecting flights are not counted or listed.
- Includes 1 Finish Line.
- Includes 2 Finish Lines.
- Includes 4 Finish Lines.
- Including the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.