How to Get Hulu Plus in Canada 2018

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UPDATE: On January 1st, 2018 I can confirm this solution still works. The tool I use in this guide is called ExpressVPN. Feel free to comment below, or go check it out by clicking here. I use ExpressVPN because it is the only one I've found that still currently works to get Hulu Plus in Canada.

To get that Hulu Plus Canada unblock working do this right now:

  1. Start with getting a VPN account﻿﻿ setup
  2. Install VPN software onto the device(s) you want to get Hulu Plus in Canada on
  3. Connect to US-based server on VPN
  4. Go to Hulu Plus and sign in to your existing account or sign up for a new one
  5. Enjoy Hulu Plus in Canada

Average time to complete full solution: 3 Minutes max

How to Get Hulu Plus in Canada

in more detail:

Hulu Plus is awesome. Seriously, it's great -- and chances are, since you're reading this quick guide, you agree with me and want to get access to it from within Canada ASAP.

I figured out how to get Hulu Plus in Canada just last month when I visited a friend of mine in Vancouver. Canada as a nation is incredible and offers practically every external stimulus you could ever want: staggering nature, amazing coffee (and cafes), wildlife, bustling and exciting city life - everything I could ever need in one country... except access to Hulu Plus! Damn! 

Luckily though, I was familiar with current software trends in the tech world and very quickly figured out a solution to legally get past this "geo-block" that Hulu Plus has placed on its service to users in Canada. So here is a quick guide and walkthrough on how to get Hulu Canada unblocked in less than 10 minutes. Let's go!

Why is Hulu Plus not Available in Canada?

Is Hulu available in Canada? Nope. Hulu Plus is not available in Canada because Hulu have made very specific copyright and distribution agreements with the owners of every movie/series/media they offer on the service.

This means that they are legally obligated to disallow users from accessing Hulu Plus if they are accessing it from any other country than the United States. Yes, this also means it is not possible to get Hulu Plus is Australia or the UK either. Boo! 

I was very sad to find this out, since Hulu Plus is super up-to-date with the latest episodes of my favourite TV shows so I never have to wait for them to be made instantly available to me on demand. However since I travel a lot, the moment I leave the US; my Hulu Plus is blocked immediately, just like when I landed in Vancouver.

How does Hulu Plus Block their Service?

The way that Hulu blocks their Plus service from being accessed in Canada is by using a process called "Geo-blocking". 

Geo-blocking, put simply, is a process implemented into the Hulu service that allows Hulu to acquire every user's physical location by checking their IP address when they access the service. Your IP address tells Hulu where in the world you are accessing their service from - and they block any and all IP addresses located in Canada.  

Therefore it goes that if you can somehow change your IP address to not show your Canadian location, but rather show that you're in the US (without actually leaving Canada, of course) then Hulu will "see" your location as inside the US -- giving you instant and full Hulu Plus Canada unblocking!

By far the smartest and most secure way to change your IP address to any location in the world, is by using a Virtual Private Network, or VPN for short. A VPN is a lightweight piece of software you simply use on any device you want to make Hulu Canada available from, that let's your securely and quickly connect to the Internet through a private network from any location you choose.

To explain in simple terms exactly how a VPN manages to do this, you can check out this little visual description I put together below:


As you can see, a VPN essentially creates a bridge between your device and the internet. To put this a bit more technically, when you connect to a VPN on your smartphone of laptop or smartTV (or any other device with an internet connection), then instead of that device connecting directly to the nearest server provided to you by your ISP (Internet Service Provider), your connection is instead re-routed to a server provided by your VPN service.

The server you connect to is up to you, as you have full choice over "where" the server you connect to is located. 

Although there are some other methods that allow you to change your IP address, very few give you the location options that a VPN does, and in addition to that, you also get a super high level of encryption placed on your connection the moment you are connected to a VPN. This means your online activity and data is privacy protected. 

There are many, many VPN service providers around today that offer great and affordable services. For me, E﻿xpressVPN is the best I've found, so I will use this VPN to walk you through the following step-by-step guide on how to get Hulu Plus in Canada.

How to Use a VPN to get Hulu Plus in Canada

Step 1: Signup for a VPN

Step one is pretty straight forward. All you need to do is jump over to the VPN service provider's website and sign up to use the software. 

Go to ExpressVPN's website and select the plan that suits your circumstance and budget best:

You can choose from a few payment options to get your subscription and account setup, which is a great payment option if you want to keep your online privacy as tight as possible.

I just went with PayPal as this is super quick and easy. Credit Card amongst other options are also available. 

After purchasing your plan you will receive a confirmation email that gives you your account details. 

In this confirmation email you will also be prompted to then go ahead and download the VPN software onto any and all the devices you plan to get Hulu Plus Canada unblocked on. 

Step 2: Download & Install VPN

Next you will be prompted to download the ExpressVPN softwar﻿﻿e onto whichever device(s) you want to use it on. Essentially every device you could ever think about using to get Hulu in Canada unblocked on is compatible with ExpressVPN and 99.999% of other VPN service providers.

Here's a snapshot of what devices are supported on ExpressVPN's software:

how to get hulu plus in canada 5

The downloading and installing process is very straightforward. Just following the clear steps displayed to you throughout this 30 second process.

Also, it is worth considering that you download the VPN software directly onto your home internet router. This way, when you connect to the VPN thereon, your entire home internet connection will be on the software, allowing you to get your Hulu Canada unblock solution on any device that you connect to your home internet on. This is includes allowing you to get Hulu Plus on Wii and other gaming consoles. Pretty cool, right?

Step 3: Connect to VPN

Once your VPN is downloaded and installed, open it up and select to connect to a server located in the US, as this will tell Hulu Plus that you are "located" in the US, rather than Canada.

To give you a visual idea of how the software actual looks, I went ahead and downloaded then installed it onto my Macbook. 

Here's a quick snapshot of what connecting to ExpressVPN looks like on my Macbook through the connection process:

how to get hulu plus in canada 7

Additionally, I wanted to have the Hulu Plus Canada unblock setup on my Android smartphone mobile device, so I also went to the Google Play Store and got the app installed on my smartphone. 

If you want to get the app downloaded onto your iPhone or iPad, as you can expect, it is simply a case of jumping over to the iTunes store, searching for "ExpressVPN" and you will see the app pop up atop the results. 

From there it's like any other app download. Just download it and go through the quick auto-install process, then launch the app, pop in your login details and you're good to go. 

Here is a quick snapshot of how it looks when I have the app open on my Android smartphone device:

how to get hulu plus in canada 8
how to permanently delete your google history 23
how to get hulu plus in canada 9

As you can see, it's super clean and clearly very easy to navigate around. You basically only need to use two features on the software: [1] Choose a location from the server list (which will be a US-based one for this solution) and [2] Hit the "Connect" button. Simple!

Quick note: You of course will not be connecting to a UK-based server location on the VPN like it shows in the above screenshots. This was just me connecting to the first suggested location when I turned on the app. To get the Hulu Plus Canada unblock you will want to choose a server located within the US. 

After having done the download and installation step, you're next step is the final one:

Step 4: Buy Hulu Plus Account

Now that your device(s) are ready to give you access to Hulu Plus from Canada, you need to actually buy a Hulu Plus account. I understand that since you're reading this guide, you most likely already have a Hulu Plus account, but just in case, here's how that process goes:

  1. Head to the Hulu website: and signup
  2. When you navigate to the Hulu Plus purchasing section, you will be asked to enter a valid US zip code. To do this, simply do a Google search and choose any random valid zip code.
  3. Confirm you Hulu Plus subscription with the email confirmation.

Step 5: Watch Hulu Plus in Canada

Once your Hulu Plus subscription is confirmed, simple close your internet browser, close the VPN software, clear your browser's history, then open it up again.

Next, open your ExpressVPN software and connect to a US server.

Once connected, go to your newly opened browser and navigate to your Hulu Plus account.

You will now be able to access and watch Hulu Plus from Canada! Enjoy!


So there you have it. Is Hulu available in Canada? Nope. Can you unblock it? Absolutely. Pretty simple, right? In just 4 minutes or less, you have a secure, fast VPN setup on your devices (which also helps with protecting your online privacy -- a sweet added bonus to using one!) and are able to get Hulu Plus in Canada.

As I mentioned earlier in this quick guide, there are many other VPN service providers out there that offer different levels of service and pricing. So to give you more options, here are the top five best VPNs for getting any service unblocked in Canada that I have personally reviewed and recommend most:

Express is definitely the superior VPN service provider to go with for this solution, as I check every single week to see which of the above 5 providers are successfully unblocking and giving access to Hulu Plus in Canada - and without fail, ExpressVPN has consistently done this for the last 2 years. 

The other 4 are good at this, but not as consistent as Express, in my personal experience. 

Before I conclude this guide altogether, I do want to give you as full a solution as I can with this. A common question I am asked with this solution is whether a VPN is the only way to achieve this fix. The answer is technically no. Let me explain...

What other options are there for getting the Hulu in Canada unblock fix?

Although I cannot recommend using a VPN enough for this solution, there is one other option you can consider trying out to get Hulu Plus in Canada. This would be to use what is known as a SmartDNS provider. 

So to give you a quick alternative option, I will run through what a smartDNS service actually is, what it does, and why it is a viable method to achieve this solution. Let's do this quickly right now...

Using a SmartDNS to get Hulu Plus in Canada in 2017: 

A smartDNS service works in much the same way that a VPN service does. You connect to a piece of software that allows you to control your IP address, and thus gives you the opportunity to bypass blocks on services like Hulu Plus while you are located outside the US. 

The main difference between a VPN and a smartDNS comes down to the technical process used to allow that IP address changing. 

As we have already established from this guide, when you use a VPN, you are connecting to a server of your choice from the VPN provider's private list, and once you do so - you are having a seriously high level of encryption placed on your connection. So you online data is privacy protected to the highest level.

This is the difference between the two. You see, when you connect to a smartDNS, you are also connecting to one of their private servers of your choosing, however you get zero privacy encryption placed on your online data when on that DNS. Therefore none of your online activity or data is being privacy protected. Any third party entity can monitor, track and store your online behaviour and connect it directly to your physical location and identity.

In today's surveillance-heavy and privacy-invasive online world, this is why we strongly suggest going with the VPN as your solution to get Hulu Canada unblocked. The difference in price between a VPN service and a smartDNS service is so small that it really does just make sense to go with the VPN. 

Regardless of whether you decide to forfeit your online privacy and go with a smartDNS, or decide to double-down and pay the extra couple of dollars for a VPN -- you will absolutely be able to effectively get the service unblocked in Canada by following the steps laid out in this quick guide.

Should you have any question, comments, feedback or reviews of this process of your own, then definitely go ahead and enter a comment in the comments section below. 

I love to hear from my readers and although I regularly update the solution in this guide literally every week - it always helps to hear how the solution is working for other fellow unblockers. 

For now, thanks again and enjoy watching Hulu Plus in Canada!

Article Name
How to Get Hulu Plus in Canada 2018
Short guide showing how to get Hulu Plus Canada unblocked.
Chris Beattie

35 Answers

  1. Shanon
    May 25, 2016 at 3:18 am

    Hey Chris! VPN is absolutely necessary to get Hulu Plus in Canada. However, ExpressVPN is way more expensive than the service I use called Hide My IP starting from $2.95/month and $34.95/year.

    1. Chris Beattie
      May 25, 2016 at 1:28 pm

      Hey Shanon,

      Thanks for your feedback! You are right to say that some VPNs like Hide My IP are less expensive than the recommended ExpressVPN in this post — however, after having reviewed over 50+ VPN providers, we definitely choose which VPN we recommend carefully. In this case, ExpressVPN is the best *value* for money, by offering a more sophisticated service than Hide My IP. This difference in quality manifests itself in higher-level privacy encryption and the logging policy offered by ExpressVPN.

      It’s more expensive, definitely — but it’s worth the extra cost for the extra security and performance you get!

      Thanks for reading, Shanon 🙂

  2. Chrissy
    May 29, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    I can’t seem to get signed up for a Hulu account. I was working for the last several years but account was cancelled for some reason and now I’m having trouble. I enter a zip code of my friend who lives in the states and it says must be a USA company who issued credit or debit card so it somehow knows it’s issued by a Canadian company even though I changed the billing address on it to my friends us address. Any advice?

    1. Albert
      August 5, 2016 at 2:13 pm

      Yes, this is a big problem. Using a vpn can get you access to Hulu, but for hulu plus you need a credit card from the US. I used which was pretty quick and seems to work with Hulu. You may be able to get a friend to buy a hulu gift card while in the US too.

  3. Angus
    June 15, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    Getting and setting up a VPN is fairly easy.
    Getting a Hulu account is way more difficult. You need more than a Zip Code. Hulu requires a US based credit card or a US based PayPal account.
    A US based PayPal account is also fairly easy to do but…, you’ll need to link a credit card to it, this credit card has to be US based.
    Are you seeing a pattern here? 🙂

    1. Chris Beattie
      June 20, 2016 at 3:08 am

      Hey Angus, great question! You’re absolutely correct with this. It’s takes a bit more effort now but it is still possible to get a Hulu account setup outside the US. We are in the process of updating this guide to include this solution, but here is a super simple guide that a Reddit user put to explain this: .

      Hope that helps, Angus. Let me know how you get on!

  4. Handel
    July 30, 2016 at 11:18 am

    Obviously Hulu Plus must know that people are signing into thier services from outside USA by using VPN. So the question is, is this illegal access?
    Thanks for your help

    1. Chris Beattie
      July 30, 2016 at 11:34 am

      Hi Handle, thanks for your comment!

      Absolutely. Using a VPN is 100% legal and Hulu are responsible for treating users who access their service via a VPN as they see fit. Rest assured, when you use a VPN to access Hulu, you are doing nothing illegal.

  5. Cheryl
    November 14, 2016 at 9:54 am

    Yeah that’s all well and good but when you get to the payment page of Hulu you’re stumped. You can’t pay with a credit card issued in Canada or a Paypal account created in Canada.

    What’s the fix for that?

    1. Chris Beattie
      November 14, 2016 at 10:26 am

      Hey Cheryl, thanks for your two cents. Very good point — thankfully there is a workaround. Check here for info on how to get around this issue: and should the main steps be unsuccessful, then please refer specifically to “msnmck”‘s specific comment for his additional workaround. Hope this helps. Thanks again, Cheryl!

  6. Deepak
    January 4, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    Hi Chris,

    I just went through the Reddit article posted. Unfortunately the numbers in my Canadian postal code don’t seem to exist as a US postal code. The numbers in my postal code are 536, so according to the article I should be able to use 53600 or 536001 but 536 doesn’t exist. Do you have any suggestions for a workaround to this problem? Do I have to convert the postal code tied to my credit card to a US zip code or will any valid zip code work?


  7. Sarah Shaw
    December 11, 2017 at 2:38 am

    As a subscriber to HULU for a while now. I am still in awe as to why they implemented such measure. I mean Hulu in Canda is experiencing blockage despite of being a US state is sad. On the other hand, I too understand why the company had to do this. At the end of the day Hulu as a growing company will face attacks even piracy so no wonder why the security was tightened.

  8. Lenetta Tyler
    December 11, 2017 at 3:03 am

    This could be a very ingenious plan. Let us just hope that the company does not discover this. We just want to enjoy and be entertained would we?

  9. Johnnie Graham
    December 11, 2017 at 3:37 am

    The way I see it. The company ( HULU) is just ensuring that nobody steals their content. They invested millions after all but if you think about it the more people can access it that could be a promotion and free at that. So why do this?

  10. Malik Randle
    December 11, 2017 at 3:53 am

    Why are people even resorting to these? Why can’t they just pay Hulu Plus Canada and access it cleanly?On the other hand the platform must stop being so STINGY otherwise viewers may look for an alternative.

  11. Sharon Bennett
    December 11, 2017 at 5:19 am

    I thought VPN is suppose to discourage shady stuff. I know this is business but come on the purpose of the product is now being taken for granted here, Just saying

  12. Escamilla Carlos
    December 11, 2017 at 6:01 am

    Fortunately I do not have this problem since I am a legal subscriber of this platform. With that said I guess VPN can make this easier to access in blocked places like many parts here. However is Hulu available in Canda? Technically no!!! otherwise people would not resort to this 3rd party software. I have nothing against that but admittedly I fins it unfair to legal service users.

  13. James Nelson
    December 11, 2017 at 6:14 am

    With this on the market it is not that surprising why Hulu Canda is tightening their policies and guidelines although VPN seems to bypass that. As a consumer I encourage every one to support the real platform. Simply put if Hulu dies then everyone will loose their jobs and we do not want that do we?

  14. Mary Beaty
    December 11, 2017 at 6:42 am

    I know this is suppose to highlight the purpose of VPN but why is it shown in a way that is on the lines of system hacking? What if Hulu sees this? The software should work together with the intention not this. Average people can use this to crack anything then. Think about that.

  15. Jorge Calles
    December 11, 2017 at 6:55 am

    If a US state such as Canada is blocked how much more in less progressive countries. I like the Idea of a VPN but I am also enlightened how bad it can get. At least this is just TV but when a more shady character gets a hold of this it could mean bad news. This should be regulated or at least sanctioned.

  16. Angel Rodriguez
    December 11, 2017 at 7:22 am

    Hulu Ntfix to name a few are the new players in the entertainment Streaming business. I understand that VPN can ease up the use of these platforms even bypass them completely. However, isn’t this a form of pirating? Similar to movies games etc. yes those are or can be pirated. Personal use is fine but to sell it is a whole new ballgame. I do not hate VPN but those people who uses it.

  17. Daniel Rivera
    December 15, 2017 at 2:00 am

    Not to be the Devils Advocate here but it seems to me that having this so called VPN is just siphoning or better put riding the co tails of hulu Canada . What about the legit users of the platform? Don’t they have a say in this?

  18. Debbie Green
    December 15, 2017 at 2:41 am

    I ever had this platform being a long time NETFLIX subscriber perhaps I can reconsider my options. I will not use this though. I do not encourage shady transactions. I will just pay straight up.

  19. Shealyn Carpenter
    December 15, 2017 at 3:05 am

    I am for VPN to be honest but just for personal use only. I guess this would count just as that if not for the monetize transactions of this. Why not offer it to the government? It will make a lot of money the legal way.

  20. Courtney Jackson
    December 15, 2017 at 3:31 am

    It is funny that a product that can potentially cause a lot of harm if used in devious ways has a freaking tutorial on screen lol. I guess that saying is true it is us that truly are the problem to this. Technology or not it depends on how we use it.

  21. Ken Bailey
    December 15, 2017 at 3:43 am

    It seems that the method listed will not work anymore. At least when it comes to hulu plus Canada . I believe you have to pay a small fee to access it. As for me, I am contented with my subscription and will not use any VPN at the moment.

  22. Charlotte Cullen
    December 15, 2017 at 4:22 am

    With this out on the market it is no surprising that hulu in Canada is what it is now blocked. With that said I understand innovation perhaps this is used to present VPN as a savior but to what degree? This is stealing. Real talk

  23. Miles Budde
    December 15, 2017 at 4:38 am

    As soon as I read this, I cannot help but ask Is hulu available in Canada? I guess I find this surprising because this is a US state and yet shady practices like these are rampant. I somehow feel bad to the legal users that are drag to this.

    1. David Paul
      January 3, 2018 at 4:11 am

      Are you really so stupid to think Canada is a US state? Canada is an independent nation and has never been associated with the USA, in fact the war of 1812 Canada won against the USA ! That was the last time there was a battle, and Canada at 5hat time was still a British colony. Canada is a freer more democratic nation than the USA. Canada offers free health care and Canadians are wealthier than USA !

  24. Neysa Barnes
    December 15, 2017 at 5:18 am

    So even as progressive USA is in this case Canada it is still vulnerable to hacking which explains this product. However, is it just me or the product intended to stop Hacking is now used for hacking!!! Ironic is it not?

  25. Amy Wright
    December 15, 2017 at 6:09 am

    To the inventor of this, do Law Enforcement ring any bells. I know this can be used fully and correctly. I just feel that this can do more than just hacking a service or program.

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