In Canada, Netflix Discontinues Its ‘Basic’ Subscription Plan

(CTN News) – Again, users in Canada are serving as the unintentional first adopters of Netflix’s new policies, despite being consciously aware of them.

As a result of the decision it made in February to charge more for sharing accounts between residences in the country, the streamer has now announced it will no longer offer a basic plan to Canadian subscribers, reports The Winnipeg Free Press.

There is no need to worry about anyone who is already on a basic plan being kicked off of it, but if they decide to move to another plan or close their account, they won’t be able to get back on that tier.

There is no longer a basic plan available to new users, while existing subscribers on other plans will not be able to switch over “in the near future.”

The basic tier in Canada costs $9.99 (CAD) a month, while the basic with ads tier costs $5.99, the standard tier costs $16.49 and the premium tier costs $20.99.

After announcing that it would never offer an ad-supported option to its subscribers,

Netflix did just that in November 2022,

The new tier in Canada, the United States, as well as ten other countries around the world.

Since the streamer decided to remove its basic option earlier this year, it now appears to be pushing more and more customers towards an experience that is ad-filled. Netflix’s reasoning is simple: ad-supported plans have a considerable effect on the bottom line of the company, which can be very beneficial.

There was an increase in revenue per user for Netflix’s basic plan with ads in the first quarter of 2023 across the US compared to Netflix’s standard plan in the same quarter last year.

It is worth noting that this dichotomy remains even though its ad tier is only $6.99, while its standard plan costs $15.49.

While Netflix hasn’t indicated that it is going to remove the basic tier in the US anytime soon, it may be a good idea to take advantage of it now if you want to avoid paying more or watching ads in the future.

It is currently $9.99 for the basic plan in the United States, and $19.99 for the premium plan.

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