Netflix Hikes Subscription Prices in Canada

It feels like winter will be much colder for our neighbors north of the border after Netflix announced its biggest price hike yet as competition in Canada heats up among its streaming video platforms.

The CBC reports the company behind Narcos and this season's runaway hit, The Haunting of Hill House, is introducing its biggest price increase for both new subscribers and current members in Canada.

While the standard plan was previously noted at $10.99, members will now see their bills, effective immediately, increase by $3 more to a monthly total of $13.99 for the option which allows HD content on two screens at a time.

Netflix Canada notes that the basic plan, which does not offer ultra-high definition 4K video and only streaming on one device, will rise by a $1 to $9.99 per month. Premium plan subscribers will pay $3 more as well, totaling their monthly bill to $16.99 with the feature that allows content to be viewed on four devices at the same time and in HD and ultra HD video.

Just over a year and a half ago, the company increased prices for most of its plans by a dollar, but the $3 increase is one that Netflix hopes will make a difference in funding its upcoming TV series and films, in addition to platform improvements.

In recent years, Netflix Canada has faced some intense competition as a number of streaming platforms in the marketplace have offered attractive content to subscribers, like Crave from Bell Media and the introduction of Hayu and CBS All Access.

A price hike might be in the cards for the U.S. too, as it was previously reported last month that the platform was planning its own price hike as examined by Wall Street analysts who believe that Netflix is "positioned to raise fees for its streaming service on a regular basis" due to a recent survey of about 1,100 U.S. Netflix users that found 71 percent said they felt content on the service has improved.

"We believe, as long as the vast majority of subscribers perceive that the service is improving, Netflix will be positioned to periodically increase price," the analyst team wrote in a note, adding that if Netflix could get an additional boost if it lands Oscar nominations for its slate of upcoming originals films including Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, the Coen Brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Susanne Bier's Bird Box."

In the U.S., prices increased in the fourth quarter of 2017 with the two-stream HD tier at $10.99 per month; the Premium Plan at $13.99 per month; and the single-stream, non-HD Basic plan at $7.99 per month.

Photo credit: Netflix