Maintaining Contact With Canadian News and Broadcasts for Canadian Expatriates Living Abroad
Getting up at 7 AM in Sydney, Mexico City, or Bangkok, grabbing your mobile device to see what’s happening in Canada in a night has become the usual routine for many people. Whether you are interested in the political situation, your favourite team’s games, or just checking the weather in Canada, the distance from your homeland does not mean disconnecting from it.
Regardless of your reasons for moving abroad, whether for work, study, family, or adventure, keeping yourself updated about Canadian news and media is easier than ever, yet it may cause some problems. It is not geographical distance anymore that may become an obstacle for you, but regional broadcasting limitations and certain content restrictions. But the great news is that there are plenty of ways for expatriates to keep up-to-date with their homeland.
Why Are Canadians Interested in Canadian Broadcasting Abroad?
The news and media broadcasts of Canada are much more than just a source of information for people living abroad. CBC, CTV, Global News, and others carry the news and stories about your homeland and let you get closer to your roots.
Sports fans also have their own reasons to stay connected. Canadian hockey, Blue Jays, and CFL games create a connection with your family and friends who are still in Canada, and missing the games seems to be missing a part of your home life.
Entertainment programs inform you about what kind of entertainment people in Canada watch and give you topics for conversation during your video calls with your family and friends.
Streaming: The Source of Canadian Information for Canadians Abroad
Thanks to the development of technology, today there is an opportunity to use streaming platforms as a source of information and entertainment. There are several major streaming platforms providing rich libraries of Canadian news, sports, and entertainment.
TSN and Sportsnet
TSN and Sportsnet have active streaming websites that can be used by international users, although the availability of content depends on your region. If you are a sports fan, these streaming platforms will definitely meet your expectations, providing you with all major Canadian sports broadcasts.
Netflix
Netflix, being a global streaming platform, still licenses Canadian content for each region. Depending on your location abroad, you can still access Canadian shows, documentaries, and series. Many popular Canadian programs such as Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience, and other dark programs are known worldwide thanks to Netflix.
Crave
Crave is a major Canadian streaming platform that belongs to Bell Media and contains Canadian movies, TV series, original series, and HBO programs. Although Crave is designed for Canadian users, some expatriates are able to use it from other countries.
CBC Gem
Canadian broadcaster CBC also provides its own streaming platform called CBC Gem, which is the source of news, documentaries, entertainment, and sports. Although CBC Gem can be used from abroad, it faces difficulties related to your location.
CTV News
CTV News has an online version of its broadcasting that includes news, entertainment, and some live programs. As with other broadcasting platforms, it has problems with accessibility from other regions, so let’s talk about the most common method used by expatriates.
Geographic Restrictions: The Main Obstacle for Accessing Canadian News
That’s where expatriates face their main problem. Canadian news websites and broadcasting platforms implement restrictions according to your location. Loading an article on the CBC News website from Thailand? You’ll see that the content is not available in your region. Want to watch some of CTV’s live programs? You’ll be blocked.
There are many reasons why these restrictions exist, including licensing agreements, copyright laws, and so on. From the broadcaster’s point of view, it paid for distributing the content in Canada and has a legal obligation to block access from other territories.
The gap between the desire to watch Canadian content and the impossibility of watching it creates a serious dilemma among expatriates who just want to stay connected with their homeland.
Getting Canadian News From Abroad With the Help of a Virtual Private Network
Many expatriates decide to use a special technology called a virtual private network (or VPN) to access Canadian broadcasts and online services from abroad. A virtual private network (or, as it is briefly called, a VPN) creates an encrypted connection for your internet and routes it through the server of your choosing.
When you are living in another country but want to stream something in Canada or read Canadian news without facing geographic barriers, this technology can be really helpful. This way, instead of connecting your computer or mobile device to the internet directly, your internet traffic goes through the server of your choosing.
A Canada VPN server works on the same principle – it allows you to connect your devices through a server located in Canada and access Canadian online services, news portals, and broadcasts as if you were in the country.
This technology helps you have an encrypted connection while avoiding geographic barriers, but using a VPN is in a gray zone from a legal point of view depending on your location and the platform you want to access. Remember to read the terms of service of all platforms you want to access with the help of a VPN.
Important Things to Remember When Using a VPN:
- Use a trusted, high-quality provider of this service with strong encryption, a no-logs policy, and proper infrastructure to ensure security and availability of Canadian content.
- Remember that although using a VPN masks your location, you still cannot be anonymous on the web, and some broadcasting platforms try to detect and block your access with the help of this service.
- Reputable VPN providers usually mention that Canadian servers are one of the options they provide as a service.
There are many free and legal methods to keep you up-to-date with your homeland.
Some Free Ways to Get Information About Canada
Before going to complicated technical solutions, consider the abundance of resources that are free for you.
- CBC News, CTV News, and Global News: These platforms maintain news websites where you can find articles about Canadian current events. Although you may face restrictions when streaming some videos, news articles are available in foreign countries. Subscribing to these news websites or email newsletters gives you access to Canadian news.
- Reddit communities: The Reddit community is also useful in this case. There are many active communities and regional subreddits about Canadian news and events.
- Social media: Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have official pages of Canadian broadcasters and news organizations. You’ll receive headlines and news updates on your wall throughout the day.
- Podcasts: Podcasts are also a valuable resource for expatriates. Many Canadian radio stations and broadcasting platforms launch podcasts with news analysis, interviews, and entertainment. You can find many popular Canadian podcasts on services such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts absolutely for free.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has an active podcast network covering news, current affairs, comedy, drama, and documentary content. All these podcasts are available for international listeners for free.
Radio and Audio Content
If you have a nostalgic connection with Canadian radio broadcasts, you’ll be able to listen to them via streaming platforms. The app called iHeartRadio gives you an opportunity to listen to many Canadian radio stations from abroad, although some content may be geographically restricted.
Sirius XM Canada provides satellite radio but has limited access from other countries. However, many Sirius XM shows are available as podcasts, giving you the possibility to listen to your favourite personalities from abroad.
Local radio stations usually broadcast themselves online, and some of them even do so for free. If you want to listen to your favourite city or region, the website of the local station will definitely help you.
News Apps and Breaking News Alerts
By downloading the apps of major Canadian broadcasting platforms and newspapers, you will be notified about breaking news instantly, regardless of your location in the world. You can easily read stories in Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, and other major Canadian news platforms for free (some of them use paywalls for premium content).
Setting up push notifications for Canadian news gives you the possibility to know about important events instantly instead of reading about them later.
Staying in Touch With the Community
Canadian expatriate communities in major cities around the world gather to watch major Canadian events together. Canadian pubs and restaurants in large cities usually organize hockey game viewings and other sports events. Such events will give you not only the content you want to watch but also a sense of community.
You’ll also find many online communities and Facebook groups of Canadians living in specific countries.
Conclusion
Living abroad as an expatriate doesn’t mean that you should completely disconnect from your homeland. Between official broadcaster apps and websites, streaming platforms containing Canadian content, free podcasts, news websites, and other resources, getting information about Canada from anywhere in the world is very realistic.
Your choice of how to stay connected to your homeland depends on your priorities. If you are interested in the news, you can rely on free resources such as CBC News and Reddit communities. If you are a sports fan, streaming platforms such as TSN will be valuable for you. And if you miss everything about Canada, including entertainment and variety, a mixture of all methods will be the most appropriate.
The expatriates who are most connected to Canada while living abroad are the ones who have already found the way to keep connected with their homeland.
