This has been a year of many things, but mostly it's been a year of staying inside and bingeing Netflix shows. When the pandemic hit at the beginning of the year, the streaming platform gained a whopping 16 million subscribers. Though that rapid rise has slowed, Netflix Canada will officially increase the cost of its standard and premium plans, for both new and current subscribers across North America.
As of January 3, 2021, standard Netflix Canada subscribers will pay $14.99/month (up from $13.99) and Premium subscribers will pay $18.99/month (up from $16.99/month). The Basic tier (which allows for one screen at a time in standard definition) will remain at $9.99/month. A Netflix spokesperson told The Verge the price increase came into effect, "so that we can continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films." Seeing as Netflix was expected to spend upwards of $17.3 billion on original programming in 2020, we can assume this price increase will also mean more Netflix Originals over the next few years.
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While this price hike comes at a time when streaming is at an all-time high, Netflix's chief operating officer, Greg Peters, confirmed that the increase is not in response to competition, such as Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max. Instead, the increase reflects the growing value of Netflix as the company creates more content and continues to invest in new technology.
This new price may come as a bit of a shock after a year of financial precarity, but personally, the amount of content is well worth an extra $2 a year. With shows such as The Crown, The Great British Baking Show, and The Haunting Of Bly Manor, we will certainly be keeping our subscription, price hike and all.
Netflix did not respond for comment at time of publishing.