Subscription VODWorks with VPNUpdated August 7, 2026
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How to Watch illico+ Abroad in 2026
Two subscriptions, one catalog, and the only thing separating them is whether commercials interrupt the film. Since September 2025 Vidéotron has sold illico+ with ads for C$10 a month or without them for C$15, and anyone in Canada can pick either. Leave the country and the same account stops playing, because every license behind that library ends at the Canadian border. The service is run out of Montreal, and its own app listing promises access anywhere in Canada and nowhere else.
That is worth solving, because the catalog is bigger than its regional label suggests. Vidéotron announced more than 8,500 titles at the merger and another 1,800 for 2025, plus a run of Quebec crime dramas that premiere on illico+ months before linear television. A VPN changes one thing only, your apparent location. Connect through Surfshark on a Canadian server, sign in to illico+ with the account you already pay for, and the library loads in 1080p.
C$10
Price
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1080p
Max quality
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VPNs work
2-3 min
Ready in
Quick answer
Does an illico+ subscription still work outside Canada?
The billing does, the playback does not. Vidéotron licenses the library for Canada, so the app checks your IP address and stops there even with a paid plan behind it. Surfshark puts you on a server in Canada and the illico+ app reads you as a Montreal viewer again. That matters most to subscribers who moved away and kept the plan running. The account stays yours, only the apparent location changes, and picture quality still tops out at 1080p.
VPN Compatibility
Best VPN for illico+
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
Tested on August 24, 2026 · 7 VPNs, 4 working · residential IP from Canada · illico+ updates detection continuously, results may change.
⚠️
Streaming service blocking your VPN? Just disconnect and hop onto a different server in the same country. Stick to the ones labeled “streaming” or “optimized” because they’re literally built for this.
How-to
How to Unblock illico+ with a VPN
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
1
Pick a VPN with Canadian servers
Start with Surfshark. Monthly plans begin at $1.78, and paying yearly pushes the effective monthly rate lower. What matters here is a stable route into Canada, not the raw server count.
Confirm the provider actually lists nodes in Montreal or Toronto before you pay.
2
Connect to a Canadian node
Choose Canada in the app, ideally Montreal or Toronto for the shortest hop. Clear your browser cookies and confirm no DNS request leaks outside the tunnel before you sign in.
3
Sign in to illico+
Open illicoplus.ca or the illico+ app on a smart TV, phone or tablet and enter your credentials. Two monthly plans are on sale, a cheaper one with commercials and a pricier ad-free one, and both are open to any viewer in Canada.
4
Check the picture quality
Streams cap at 1080p and there is no 4K tier, whatever Vidéotron advertises for its cable television product. If the image wobbles, switch Canadian servers or move from Wi-Fi to a wired connection.
Ready to watch illico+ without borders?
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This overall 1-10 score combines value, reliability, and VPN compatibility into one editorial verdict. Higher = better overall experience.
7.0
Value
This 1-10 score rates the value for money: content and features vs. price. Higher = better deal. 10 = outstanding offer. 5 = market average.
8.0
Reliability
This 1-10 score rates the reliability of streams, apps, and the service overall: higher = fewer technical issues. 10 = no outages. 5 = occasional minor glitches.
7.0
Works with VPN
This 1-10 score shows how easily the platform unblocks with a VPN: higher is better. 10 = works with any service. 5 = you’ll need a premium VPN from the table above.
Availability
Which countries is illico+ available in?
illico+ is only available in Canada. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
illico+ is blocked in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in New Zealand and in Ireland, plus in 188 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
Available
Blocked / unavailable
Last tested: August 6, 2026
⚠️
Steer clear of free VPNs. Most of them actually collect and sell your data, lack proper security audits, and can even expose you to malware. They’re also useless for streaming. Platforms block them instantly, leaving you with more headaches than solutions. Stick to paid VPNs with verified audits, like Surfshark, if you want something that actually works.
Pricing & Plans
How Much Does illico+ Cost?
Avec publicité
≈ $7.12
/month
Approximate price · billed in CAD
✓2 simultaneous streams
✗With ads
✗No offline downloads
Most Popular
Sans publicité
≈ $10.68
/month
Approximate price · billed in CAD
✓2 simultaneous streams
✓Ad-free
✓Offline downloads
PoliciesNo refund guarantee
Ready to subscribe to illico+?
Go to the official website: no VPN needed if you’re in a supported country.
illico+ is the Québec subscription service of Vidéotron, part of the Québecor group. It was created in October 2024 by merging Club illico, launched in 2013, with the factual platform Vrai. The catalogue passed 8,500 titles at the merger and mixes Québec originals, American and international series, recent films, documentaries, kids programming and live events. Profiles, offline downloads and resume are all supported, streaming runs up to 1080p and the service is sold only in Canada.
The illico+ start page, where the browsing begins.
Company and history
Previously known as
Club illicoVrai
Major changes
Vidéotron launched Club illico in Quebec, a French-language film and series library sold as a flat monthly subscription. By 2016 the service counted roughly 270,000 paying households.
The library broke out of the cable box. A standalone app for Android, iOS and Apple TV opened the catalog to viewers who had no Vidéotron television subscription at all.
Vidéotron added a second service, Vrai, built entirely around unscripted programming: true crime documentaries, reality shows, cooking formats and homegrown Quebec comedy.
Distribution widened beyond the parent network. A carriage deal with TELUS put Club illico in front of Optik TV customers, so the catalog reached households through a rival operator.
Club illico and Vrai disappeared as brands and their libraries merged into a single app called illico+. The catalog held more than 8,500 titles, with over 1,800 more promised across 2025.
The six-part crime drama L’Appel premiered exclusively on illico+. Luc Dionne wrote it around the biker war that erupted in Quebec in 1994 and the prosecution of Maurice Boucher that followed.
illico+ added a cheaper ad-supported monthly plan at 10 CAD. The pricier ad-free tier stayed the only one with offline downloads, and both remain open to any subscriber in Canada.
The three-part documentary L’affaire du juge Delisle arrived on illico+ and unpacked a judicial saga that dragged on for fifteen years. All three hour-long episodes dropped at once.
Détective Surprenant returned to illico+ for a second season subtitled Le Baron de l’archipel. Six episodes set in the Magdalen Islands, two at launch and one a week afterwards.
illico+ announced Indéfendable: sans trace, an eight-episode special edition spun off from the hit TVA series. The first four episodes arrive on August 20, 2026 and the remaining four a week later.
Trust signals
App Store
4.5 / 5
Google Play
4.6 / 5
Content & Catalog
What to watch on illico+?
Content TypesMovies · Series · Live TV · Documentaries · Kids · Originals · Offline
Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program, is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.
Lioness
★ 8.12023
#2TV
Unravel the mystery of a nightmarish town in middle America that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive the threats of the surrounding forest, including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.
FROM
★ 8.52022
#3TV
The story of Melissa Reed, daughter of Keith Jesperson, aka the Happy Face Killer. After decades of no contact, Keith forces his way back into his daughter’s life, and Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. In the process, she must face a reckoning of her own identity.
Happy Face
★ 6.82025
#4TV
Dr. Amy Larsen must navigate an unfamiliar world after a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience.
Doc
★ 7.32025
#5
She is a tactical submarine officer. He is a steward. Before diving for 90 days she chooses to make it her "four-hour". But here he is clinging. Who follows her. Who sticks it. Where do we go if the flight crew of a 747 prides itself on romance? As if we had time to be in love on board a military ship. Still, the Pacific Ocean is not big enough. Neither does the Arctic Ocean. The world is so small when you love each other so much.
In the Sub for Love
★ 5.42024
#6TV
A mysterious event traps people on a rural Georgia farm, forcing them to unite against an unknown, deadly force. A young boy named Arlo becomes central to uncovering the truth.
Teacup
★ 7.02024
#7
With the help of a gruff old neighbor, a little girl from Limoilou, blessed with a fertile imagination, sets out to make her father happier.
Blue Sky Jo
★ 5.42024
#8
When her teenage son Henri threatens to move in with his father, Justine improvises a road trip along the Atlantic coast with her new partner Ludo and stepson Joseph, giving her family one last chance to unite.
Give a Little Beat
★ 5.62024
#9TV
The powerful real-life story of Lali Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner who was tasked with tattooing ID numbers on prisoners' arms in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
★ 8.02024
#10
In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen, attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger decides to go fight for the Union in the burgeoning Civil War, Vivienne must fend for herself, which isn’t easy in a town controlled by a corrupt mayor.
The Dead Don't Hurt
★ 6.52024
#11TV
The coming-of-age story of the Grace Family, as they move from New York to Michigan and into their family’s ancestral home. Upon arrival, the family not only uncovers mysteries hidden inside their great grandfather’s Spiderwick Estate, but also discovers a secret, fantastical world around them.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
★ 6.92024
#12
This documentary delves into Joran van der Sloot’s lifelong pattern of violence and pathological lying through rare interviews and new insights years after he brutally murdered American Natalee Holloway and Peruvian Stephany Flores.
Apple TV (tvOS 16+) · Amazon Fire TV Stick · Samsung Tizen 8.0 · Android TV / Google TV 9.0 · Chromecast (2nd gen+)
Chromecast
Fire TV
Apple TV
Video quality
1080pHDRDolby VisionDolby Atmos
UX features
Continue watchingParental controls
Accessibility
Closed captions
Insider Tips
Tips & tricks you should know
5 tips from our illico+ testing team · Updated August 6, 2026
1
The 10 CAD a month tier carries ads and drops offline downloads, while 15 CAD buys the ad-free version with downloads included.
2
TVA Group and Addik productions reach illico+ a few days before their TV premiere, so subscribers watch new episodes before the broadcast audience does.
3
One account holds five profiles but streams to only two devices at once, and the 15 downloads per device come with the ad-free tier only.
4
illico+ tops out at 1080p because Vidéotron reserves 4K for Helix TV, a separate product, so expect Full HD on smart TVs, phones, tablets and the web.
5
illico+ is Canada only, so from abroad connect Surfshark to a Canadian server, and note that the paid subscription is still required to press play.
Alternatives
Other services you can watch
Not the right fit? Here are services in the same category you can compare.
When Netflix US drops a new series, she knows before the algorithm does. Tracks libraries on Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, and regional platforms like Hulu and Peacock, logs geo-differences, and tests where a VPN actually unlocks access and where the promised unblock falls flat.
Streaming librariesGeo-unblock testingNetflix catalogsRegional platformsBBC iPlayer and HuluBroadcasting rights
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before subscribing to illico+.
Two monthly plans for illico+, and what separates them is advertising. The cheaper tier costs C$10 a month and runs commercial breaks between scenes. The ad-free tier costs C$15 and is the only one that allows offline downloads. Everything else matches: two simultaneous streams and up to five profiles per account. Both are sold to anyone in Canada, whoever supplies the internet. Billing runs month to month, with no annual contract and no cancellation fee.
Not on a plain connection. The player checks your IP address and serves the catalogue only to viewers inside Canada, so a foreign address returns a rights message instead of a stream. Surfshark routes you through a Canadian node and the app reads you as a local viewer. You still buy and pay for the illico+ subscription yourself. Canadians abroad use exactly this trick to finish a series they started at home.
The billing system behind illico+ is built around Canadian cards and a Canadian address, since the account sits inside the Vidéotron customer database. A foreign Visa or Mastercard sometimes clears, but either your bank or the merchant can reject a billing address that does not match the country of issue. The cleanest route is an account opened while you lived in Quebec. Prepaid cards that support online transactions are accepted.
French, and specifically Quebec French, which sounds noticeably different from the Parisian version in accent, slang and cultural references. American and international series usually arrive dubbed, with the original audio available on part of the library. Subtitles on illico+ lean heavily French and English tracks are thin. If you do not follow French, expect far less value than from Hulu or Peacock.
Smart TVs, phones, tablets and any browser at illicoplus.ca cover most households, and illico+ also ships a dedicated Apple TV app. From a phone you can push the picture to the television over Chromecast. AirPlay and the Samsung television app carry one caveat: neither works on the cheaper ad-supported plan. Store ratings hold up well for a regional service, 4.54 out of 5 on iOS from more than five thousand reviews and 4.6 out of 5 on Google Play.
Yes, but only on the pricier ad-free plan. It holds up to fifteen downloaded titles at a time and the files stay valid for thirty days. The cheaper ad-supported tier has no download function at all. Save the episodes while you are still in Canada, because the operator then lets you watch them offline wherever you happen to be. It remains the simplest legal way to carry Quebec drama onto a plane.
Both brands were retired on October 23, 2024. The scripted library from Club illico and the unscripted catalog from Vrai folded into one app, which is why crime dramas and docu-reality now sit side by side behind a single login. Existing accounts migrated to illico+ automatically and subscribers had nothing to do. The old names survive only in archives and in the credits of older productions.
Quebec crime drama is the calling card. Victor Lessard, Corbeaux, L’Appel written by Luc Dionne, and since January 2026 the second season of Détective Surprenant, subtitled Le Baron de l’archipel. Four original films sit alongside them: Sam, Maria, Babysitter and Niagara. Comedy now rests on the Quebec edition of Hot Ones, since the sitcom Léo closed with its fifth season in January 2024 and stays on as a catalog title. Most of these land before linear television.
Barely. The library is built on drama, film and documentary, while Quebecor keeps its live rights on TVA Sports, a separate channel. The two are sold together in a bundle that costs less than two standalone subscriptions. Occasional live events do surface in the app, but hockey and soccer rights are not part of the package, so treat it as an on-demand service.
The illico+ account carries up to five profiles, so everyone in the household keeps a separate watchlist and set of recommendations. Two streams run at the same time, and that ceiling is identical on both monthly plans, with ads and without. Resume playback follows you across devices, meaning you start an episode on a phone and finish it on the television. A third simultaneous stream simply refuses to start.
Running a VPN is legal in both Canada and the United States and no statute forbids it. What does apply are the terms of the service itself, which assume access from Canada and discourage working around regional limits, so the risk with illico+ is contractual rather than criminal. One practical note: pick a paid provider such as Surfshark rather than a free app, because free services monetize user data and rarely hold a stable Canadian route.
Ready to watch illico+ without borders?
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