''Canada's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''CGT'') is a Canadian

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

competition, which debuted on the

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

on March 4, 2012. It is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise. As with other series in the franchise, the show is a competition in which entertainers in various fields compete to win a prize. In the first season, the winner won a prize of $100,000 and a

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (''Gran Turismo–Racing''; model code: R35; Japanese: 日産・GT-R; ''Nissan GT-R'') is a series of cars built by Japanese marque Nissan from 2007 to 2025. It has a 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 seating layout and is considered b ...

, an opportunity to perform during Citytv's New Year's Eve bash, a possibility to perform in a venue in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and a trip to

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. In the second and third seasons, the winner received a cash prize of $150,000. In the third season finale, it was announced that the cash prize would be increased to $1 million for the fourth season. The first season was won by the

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

-based dance troupe Sagkeeng's Finest. Citytv brought back ''Canada's Got Talent'' for a second season in 2022. In October 2021, Citytv announced that

Lindsay Ell Lindsay Elizabeth Ell (born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian-American country pop singer, songwriter, guitarist and television personality from Calgary, Alberta. Her music incorporates elements of rock and blues. Her debut extended play, ''Worth the ...

would host, along with

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for voicing Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', playing rowd ...

Lilly Singh Lilly Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian and author. She began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username ...

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

, and

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975), better known by the ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, yoga instructor, actress and former fitness model. She is signed to WWE. An inductee of the 2013 WWE Hall ...

serving as judges. The season premiered in March 2022, and ended in May. It was won by

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

singer Jeanick Fournier. A third and fourth season premiered in March 2023 and 2024, and were won by Quebec dance troupe

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and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

singer

Rebecca Strong Rebecca Strong (23 August 1843 – 24 April 1944) was an English nurse who pioneered preliminary training for nurses. Early years and education Rebecca Strong (née Thorogood) was born in Aldgate, East London on the 23 August 1843. Her fathe ...

, respectively.

Format

Auditions

The auditions took place in front of the judges, and a live audience at different cities across Canada. At any time during the audition, the judges would show their disapproval of the act by pressing a buzzer, which lights a large red "X" on the stage. If all the judges pressed their buzzers, the act must end. Voting worked on a majority-of-two basis, where two positive votes from the judges were required.

The Cutdown

In the first season, acts that were accepted past the audition moved on to the Judges Round (also known as "The Cutdown"). This stage of the competition did not feature any audiences, and only contained contestants performing in front of the judges. Out of all the acts that made it to this point, thirty-six made it through to the next round, which was the semi-finals. In the second season, this part of the show was removed.

Semi-finals/The Eliminations

The semi-finals and final were broadcast with a varying number of semi-finals, followed by the one final split into two episodes over one night. The remaining acts performed across a number of semi-finals, with the two most popular acts from each semi-final winning a position in the final. Judges could still end a performance early with three X's. The judges were asked to express their views on each act's performance. Phone lines, Twitter, Facebook, texting and online voting platforms opened for a one hour after all acts performed. The public voted for the act they thought were the best. Voters could submit a total of fifty votes (ten in each platform). After the votes were counted, the act that polled the highest number of public votes, was automatically placed in the final. The judges then chose between the second and third most popular acts, with the winner of that vote also gaining a place in the final. All other acts were then eliminated from the competition. Starting with the fourth season, the semifinals has been rebranded as the Eliminations, which is broadcast for one episode, followed by one grand finale. The remaining acts competed for three judge votes that sent them straight to the finals, and the rest competed for a Canada-wide vote that dictated the rest of the finalists.

The Finals

The acts who made it past the semifinals/the Eliminations have a final shot at performing once again, and all of the acts competed for a Canada-wide vote that determined the winner of the season. This round has been broadcast live, and the winner is revealed at the end of the episode.

Judges and hosts

Canadian comedian and actor,

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

, was announced as the first judge on October 13, 2011. On October 17, opera singer

Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman–Lee (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular m ...

and musician/composer

Stephan Moccio Stephan Moccio is a Canadian composer, producer, pianist, arranger, conductor and recording artist. He co-wrote and co-produced the two end credit songs for ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' and its soundtrack: " Earned It" (The Weeknd) and " I Know Yo ...

, were announced as the two judges to join Short. Citytv Toronto personality and ''

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

'' host,

Dina Pugliese Dina Pugliese (; born May 22, 1974) is a Canadian television personality. She has served as a co-host of Citytv's morning show ''Breakfast Television'', initially from 2006 to 2023, and returning in 2025. Career Born in Toronto, Pugliese grew ...

, was the host of the show. In October 2021, it was announced that

and

would serve as judges for the show, with

as host. In June 2024, it was announced that

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

and

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer. She has appeared on British TV and radio panel shows, including ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ''A League of Their Own'', ...

would become judges for the fifth season, replacing Singh and Stratus.

Series overview

Season 1 (2012)

The first season of ''Canada's Got Talent'' aired on Citytv across Canada (and on other TV stations across the country, where there is no Citytv station), starting on March 4, 2012. Preliminary auditions for the first season of ''Canada's Got Talent'' took place during fall 2011, and continued into January 2012. Auditions for the show took place in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and Halifax. Acts chosen to perform in front of the host, judges and a live audience were invited back, starting in Calgary on October 18 and 19. The production tour then went to each of the original cities in October, November, December 2011 and January 2012. Those chosen by the panel of judges went to Toronto for the next rounds, and completed with audience voting, in April and May 2012. Sagkeeng's Finest received the most votes from Canada, winning the first season of ''Canada's Got Talent''.

Hiatus

In June 2012, Rogers Media president Scott Moore announced that a second season would not be produced, after a "careful consideration of all factors, including the current economic climate". A ''Canadian Family's Got Talent'' competition was held on Citytv's morning show ''

'' in 2020, in acknowledgement of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdowns A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

across the country, and to cross-promote season 15 of ''America's Got Talent'' on Citytv.

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

was the sole judge of the competition. The contest was won by

-based singing trio CZN, consisting of Seth Zosky, CJ Capital, and Matthew Novary Joseph. CZN later went on to compete in season 16 of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''.

Season 2 (2022)

On June 8, 2021, Citytv announced that a reboot of ''Canada's Got Talent'' would premiere in 2022; Production on the series took place in 2021; unlike the first season (which filmed auditions across the country), the entirety of the season was filmed at the Avalon Theatre at

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Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

. On December 31, 2021, it was announced that the revival would premiere in March 2022, which was later specified as March 22. The season was won by Quebecois singer Jeanick Fournier.

Season 3 (2023)

Following the season two finale in May 2022, Citytv announced that it had renewed ''Canada's Got Talent'' for a new season to air in 2023; Rogers officially promoted it as being the second season of ''Canada's Got Talent'', not acknowledging the 2012 season. The auditions were filmed at the OLG Stage at the Fallsview Casino Resort from October 19 to 23, 2022. The season premiered on March 21, 2023.

Season 4 (2024)

In May 2023, ''Canada's Got Talent'' was renewed for a third revived season, premiered on March 19, 2024. In addition to the $1 million prize package, $25,000 will be awarded to each recipient of the

golden buzzer ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Freman ...

, making it the first known edition of the ''Got Talent'' franchise to attach a prize to the golden buzzer over and above the privilege of advancing in the competition.

Season 5 (2025)

The fourth revived season of ''Canada's Got Talent'' premiered on March 18, 2025. Ell returned as host, along with returning judges Offishall and Mandel. Judges Stratus and Singh did not return, with

and

joining the judging panel. Rogers did not announce a sixth season during its 2025 upfronts, stating that the series would be placed on hiatus.

Ratings

References

External links

*
Production website
* {{Got Talent 2010s Canadian reality television series 2020s Canadian reality television series 2012 Canadian television series debuts Canadian television series based on British television series Canadian television series revived after cancellation Citytv original programming * Canadian English-language television shows Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series by Insight Productions