Where can I watch season 11 of "The Walking Dead" in Canada?

The Walking Dead (commonly abbreviated TWD), the long-running post-apocalyptic zombie horror series based on the comic book series of the same name, premiered on AMC in North America on October 31, 2010. The eleventh and final season will air in three parts; the first part started airing on AMC on Sunday, August 22, 2021.

Part 2 of the final season of TWD premiered on AMC on February 20, 2022, with new episodes premiering weekly until April 10 (episodes continue to premiere one week early on AMC+). The final batch of episodes will air later in 2022.

If you already receive AMC as part of your cable, satellite, or fibre-based TV subscription in Canada, you can watch at the usual time – Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET. On most providers, you can also watch on demand on a next-day basis for a limited time – typically about four weeks – after each episode airs, via your set-top box's on-demand feature or through provider-specific apps like Rogers Anyplace TV or the Bell Fibe TV app.

If you do not subscribe to a TV package that includes AMC, if you miss the on-demand availability of a particular episode, or if you want to watch episodes early – up to one week before they air on the AMC TV channel – it appears you now have an option other than buying the episodes individually, or waiting for the season to be available on Netflix.

That's because the AMC+ streaming service is now available in Canada, for $8.99 per month with a 30-day free trial for first-time subscribers in most regions, as a "channel" through two streaming platforms:

• Amazon Prime Video Channels (AMC+ subscription is in addition to an Amazon Prime subscription, which is $7.99 per month or $79.00 per year)
• Apple TV Channels (does not require any other subscription, including to Apple TV+; you just need a device that supports the Apple TV app)

(Note that all prices in this post are in Canadian dollars and before applicable sales taxes.)

AMC+ (pronounced "AMC Plus") is promoted as the premium streaming offering from AMC Networks, and provides original programming from the AMC channel itself, as well as affiliated services like Shudder, Sundance Now, and IFC, though there are some differences in programming rights between the Canadian and U.S. versions of the service. It launched in Canada on or about August 12, 2021, a little over a year after its U.S. launch.

Unlike in the U.S., it's not currently possible to subscribe to AMC+ at a discounted rate through a TV provider you already get the regular AMC channel from, but that option may be available in the future. For now, if you want AMC+, you'll have to pay the full rate regardless of whether you have the AMC channel already.

Where can I watch past seasons of "The Walking Dead" in Canada?

Currently in the U.S. and Canada, the only place to stream past seasons of The Walking Dead on-demand is on Netflix. Season 10 of TWD premiered on Netflix in both countries on July 26, 2021. Despite the staggered release of the season 11 episodes, we expect the full final season will become available on Netflix all at once, likely in 2023, several months after it completes airing on AMC.

Similarly, past seasons of TWD's spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead and World Beyond are currently only available on Amazon Prime Video.

While AMC produces TWD directly – meaning it owns the distribution rights, and doesn't have to pay licensing fees to an outside studio to air the series – it made a multi-year deal with Netflix in 2011 to make past seasons of The Walking Dead available on the latter service, just before the next season premieres. Amazon's rights for the spinoff series seem to be similar.

The agreement is exclusive, meaning that once Netflix's rights come into effect for a particular season, that season of TWD is not available to stream on any other service – including AMC+, a service that was probably not conceived until well after the agreement was made.

AMC does still have linear rights to past seasons, meaning that the AMC linear channel, as well as "The Walking Dead Channel" streaming feed available on AMC+, can and do air past episodes from TWD and other series in the Walking Dead franchise, but you can't select specific episodes to watch.

At some point after the original TWD series ends in 2022, Netflix's rights should eventually expire and revert back to AMC. Until then, Netflix remains the only service authorized to offer on-demand streaming of past seasons of The Walking Dead in Canada.

Significant revisions

• February 20, 2022 – updates to reflect ongoing broadcast of part 2 of season 11