Summary – If you are French, or simply love French television and movies then you probably use Canal+ (Canal Plus) or Canal Play to watch your favorite shows.
Canal Plus is basically an on-demand streaming platform which features popular TV shows, live sports and movies on Canal+ live, Canal+ Sports and Canal+ Cinema.
Unfortunately, the Canal plus streaming platform is only available in France and Luxembourg.
So, if you are outside France you will not be able to watch Canal plus shows.
Luckily, there’s a simple solution.
Using a VPN you would be able to unblock and stream Canal plus from anywhere in the world.
In a matter of easy 3 steps, you would be able to watch Canal+ in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, or wherever you are.
The best VPN for unblocking Canal Plus outside France is ExpressVPN.
How to watch Canal Plus outside France (Step by Step Tutorial)
Step 1: Get a VPN and Install it – See my recommendations for the best VPNs to unblock Canal+.
Not every VPN out there would be able to get you access to the streaming platform, and some of those who do will be so slow that you won’t be able to watch anything.
Step 2: Activate VPN and Connect to a French Server – Once you activate your VPN, you would be asked to choose a server location to connect to.
At this point, you need to choose France in order to stream Canal Plus and unblock all Canal channels.
Step 3: Stream Canal+– Once you are in, you can just start streaming any game, show or movie you want.
You don’t need to subscribe to Canal+ in order to get access to all the VOD library, and you will now be able to watch Canal+ from outside France.
Enjoy!
Why is Canal+ blocked outside France
- Copyrights Laws
- Advertising agreements
- Logistics
The popular French streaming platform Canal+, like most other streaming platforms, is bound by copyright laws and advertising contracts.
The distribution of movies, series, or TV shows to anyone outside France and Luxembourg is basically in violation of Copyrights legislation.
In addition, Canal Plus has advertising agreements for promoting products for French demographics, and cannot show the ads they’ve been paid to promote to non-French people.
For both reasons and other logistical reasons such as royalty payments for viewers in other Countries, Canal Plus simply closes its gates for anyone outside of France.
The way it’s done is by detecting your IP address when you try to stream videos on Canal Plus online website.
The IP address your browser sends back signals to Canal+ your physical location.
This is how they can determine where you are actually located at, and if you are allowed to enter or not.
If the platform detects that you are currently not in France or Luxembourg, you will see the following message:
‘Impossible d’accéder au contenu, veuillez vérifier votre connexion internet. ‘ – ‘Cannot access content, check your internet connection.’
Although the message is quite vague and general, this is their way of blocking you out of Canal Plus streaming services when you are not allowed to enter.
The way you can fool Canal is by using a VPN to hide your online presence and fake your location to seem as if you are in France.
How does a VPN work
A VPN is short for Virtual Private Network.
When you connect through a VPN, you are basically rerouting your connection through different servers around the world.
While you are diverted through a different server, the VPN will also encrypt your connection and hide you under layers of security.
Once this process is complete, which is a matter of seconds, you will be the proud owner of a brand new IP address.
In addition to that, your online activity would be completely off the logs.
Once your VPN client is activated, no one (not even your internet service provider) would be able to monitor or track your online activity.
Normally, when you browse without a VPN they track and log your every move online and can later sell that information to any third-party.
Just FYI, in case you weren’t aware…
What to look for in a VPN for Canal Plus Streaming
- High Download Speed
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- IPv6 Protection
Speed – When it comes to streaming, especially in HD / 4K your VPN speed is your most important feature.
When you connect through a VPN, it will decrease your overall connection speed, with some VPNs more than others.
You need to look at your Download speed, after connecting to a VPN.
The Download speed is what matters when you are streaming videos, and it is measured in Mbps. (megabytes per second).
For HD quality streaming, I recommend using a VPN with an average download speed of no less than 70 Mbps.
Unlimited Bandwidth – This is a standard for most VPNs, but not all.
Streaming is a heavy task on your bandwidth.
If you don’t have unlimited bandwidth your VPN will shut down after only a few minutes of streaming.
IPv6 Protection – When a VPN changes your IP address, it changes your IPv4 address, but your IPv6 address remains the same.
Basically, your computer has two versions of your IP address encoded differently.
Most online activity only looks at your IPv4 to determine where you are from, and your IPv6 is disregarded.
Only advanced streaming platforms such as Canal+, Hulu or Netflix will compare your IPv4 to your IPv6 to block out VPN and Proxy traffic from unblocking their services.
Only a VPN that offers IPv6 protection, would be able to fool these platforms.
Best VPNs to watch Canal Plus outside France
#1 ExpressVPN – Best VPN to watch Canal+
ExpressVPN has it all.
Great speed, unlimited bandwidth and the ability to unblock any online service, no matter how advanced.
With ExpressVPN you will get one of the best VPNs in the market and would enjoy streaming Canal+ and French Netflix with ease.
Highlights:
- 85 Mbps. Download speed on average
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- IPv6 Protection
- No logs
- AES-256 bit encryption over 4 OpenVPN protocols (highest levels of security)
Pricing:
ExpressVPN now offers a 35% discount plus 3 additional months for free on their 1-year plan for $6.67/month.
They also offer a 30-day money back guarantee, no questions asked.
Get ExpressVPN for Streaming Canal+
#2 Ivacy – Best VPN for streaming Canal+ online
Ivacy is a veteran VPN in the market and is one of the most solid VPNs out there.
With exceptional speed and unblocking capabilities, Ivacy makes a great VPN for streaming on all the advanced platforms.
On top of it all, Ivacy is currently offering the best deal in the VPN market.
Highlights:
- Average download speed of 79 Mbps.
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- IPv6 Protection
- A simultaneous connection of 5 devices (supports all devices and OS’s)
- No Logs
Pricing:
Best Deal – $1.41/Month for a 5-year plan, with 30-day money back guarantee.
Get Ivacy to unblock Canal Plus
#3 Cyberghost – Fastest VPN
Cyberghost is the fastest VPN I’ve tested so far.
It has gone through significant improvements recently and is currently one of the best VPNs for streaming.
Highlights:
- Average download speed of 88 Mbps.
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- IPv6 Protection
- Up to 7 devices at the same time
Pricing:
Cyberghost offer a 12-month subscription with 6 months for free for only $2.75/Month.
It is one of the cheapest VPN deals with 45-day money back guarantee.
Get Cyberghost to watch Canal+ outside France.
Bottom Line
Canal+ offers a wide range of TV shows, movies, and live sports available for free on their online streaming platform.
The only problem is that if you are outside of France, Canal Plus will be blocked for you.
The only way you can successfully stream Canal plus from other Countries is by using a VPN.
Not all VPNs would work for you, however.
Hopefully, the list of best VPNs for Canal+ above will be of assistance to you.
Happy streaming!
