Aside from the presents, food, and procrastination on wrapping and gift buying, a big part of the holidays is watching your favourite movies and TV specials!
The problem is, the streaming services have cleverly divvied them across Platforms, spreading them thinner than Santa's willpower against a plate of cookies!
Streaming selections vary by country, so here are some of the most pouplar titles for Canadians!
To make it a little easier, we've collected a list of some of the most popular holiday movies and TV specials across the various streaming platforms in Canada!
Holiday specials streaming on Netflix in Canada
While Netflix has many original/modern Christmas films, if you're looking for classics, you'll have to dig deep into the library. But hit the ole' search bar at the top and you'll find some great gems included in your subscription!
- Christmas Chronicles
- Christmas Chronicles 2
- Daddy's Home 2
- Deck The Halls
- Festivus Seinfeld Episode (Season 9, Episode 10 - The Strike)
- Four Christmases
- Love the Coopers
- The Grinch (Jim Carrey, live action)
- The Grinch Benedict Cumberbatch, animation)
- Trailer Park Boys Xmas Special
Plus, there's A large selection of holiday fireplaces, including Brigerton and Squid Game themes!
Holiday specials streaming on Crave in Canada
Crave's selection of holiday films is packed fuller with holiday nostalgia than a naughty kid's stocking is loaded with coal! This is the palace where you'll find many of the must-watch classics!
- A Christmas Carol (1984 George C. Scott Version)
- A Christmas Story (and the modern sequel)
- Elf
- Fred Claus
- Jingle All The Way
- Love Actually
- Miracle on 34th Street (the 1994 version)
- National Lampoon's Christmas
- The Family Stone
- The Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch, animation)
- The Grinch (Jim Carrey, live action)
- The Raccoons Christmas Special (classic Canadian cartoon had a one-off Xmas special)
Friends Christmas Episodes
Crave streams all the seasons of Friends so here's where you'll find each holiday special:
- Season 2 Episode 09
- Season 3 Episode 10
- Season 4 Episode 10
- Season 5 Episode 10
- Season 6 Episode 10
- Season 7 Episode 10
- Season 8 Episode 11 -Season 9 Episode 10
The Office Christmas Episodes
Crave also is currently streaming all episodes of The Office. If you want to celebrate the holidays with Dunder Mifflin, these are the episodes to watch:
- Season 2 Episode 10 (Christmas Party)
- Season 3 Episodes 10 & 11(A Benihana Christmas)
- Season 5 Episode 11 (Moroccan Christmas)
- Season 6 Episode 13 (Secret Santa)
- Season 7 Episodes 11 and 12 (Classy Christmas)
- Season 8 Episode 10 (Christmas Wishes)
- Season 9 Episode 9 (Dwight Christmas)
Holiday specials streaming on Disney+ in Canada
Disney+ has many, many, many Christmas specials (since so many Disney movies, ended up getting TV series, and many of those ended up having holiday specials).
The biggest and best on Disney+ is Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Since these are essential watching for many Canadians around the holidays (sometimes on repeat between the two), Disney+ is your best place to enjoy this classic if you no longer have the VHS.
Also Mickey's Christmas Carol is a favourite in our household, so if you haven't checked that one out lately, give it a watch. It's aged beautifully!
Holiday specials streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Canada
Amazon's lineup was looking a little thin heading into the holidays. Shortly before Christmas they added Red One, the big budget holiday film starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans. While it wasn't a box office hit, it's certainly worth a watch.
As far as classics, there are a few must-watch holiday specials:
- All Dogs Christmas (All Dogs Go To Heaven Christmas Special(
- It's A Wonderful Life
- Love Actually
- Love The Coopers
- The Polar Express
- Reindeer Games (Ben Affleck)
- Scrooge (1951 Black & White version)
- The Family Man
- The Grinch (Original animated special)
- The Grinch (Benedict Cumberbatch, animation)
- The Grinch (Jim Carrey, live action)
Holiday special streaming on Apple TV+ in Canada
AppleTV+ is focused more on quality than quantity. But one of the franchises they acquired for their streaming platform was Peanuts.
This means the 1965 classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is included in your AppleTV+ subscription for free.
Note: If you have AppleOne, you also have AppleTV+, so stream away!
Deck the halls and stream the shows!
Everyone's got their own favourite Christmas movie or special. If you're hoping to track down yours, hopefully this article saved you a bit of time flipping between different apps.
While the list isn't exhaustive, it contains some of the most popular titles from each of the streaming platforms.
So pop some corn, turn on the Christmas lights, and stream to your heart's content!