The fifth season of the Canadian talent show competition series '' Canada's Got Talent'' premiered on March 18, 2025, and concluded on May 13, 2025.

Format

Auditions

The auditions took place in front of the judges and a live audience. At any time during the audition, the judges showed 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-three basis, where three positive votes from the judges were required. The Golden Buzzer is placed in the center of the stage, and each judge (or the host) can only press the Golden Buzzer once, sending an act straight to the semi-finals.

Eliminations

The elimination round and final were broadcast through two episodes. Judges could still end a performance early with four Xs. The 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 judges were asked to express their views on each act's performance. Phone lines, Twitter, Facebook, texting and online voting platforms opened for one-hour after all acts were performed. The public voted for the act they thought was 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, automatically was 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.

The Finals

The acts who made it through 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 host

Two new judges joined the panel in the fifth season: comedian

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'', ...

and country superstar

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 ...

, replacing Trish Stratus and Lilly Singh respectively.

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 ...

and

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 ...

returned for their fourth seasons as judges, while

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 ...

returned for her fourth season as host.

Production

In June 2024,

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 ...

announced that it had renewed ''Canada's Got Talent'' for a new season to premiere in 2025. This season the grand prize is , courtesy of Citytv owner

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

. Each recipient of a Golden Buzzer during the auditions also earn a $25,000 prize from sponsor

CIBC The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...

. Filming for the auditions took place at the OLG Stage at

Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort The Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, commonly known as Fallsview Casino, is a resort casino located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, the $1 billion complex opened to the public on June 10, 2004, and has since ...

on October 22–27, 2024, while filming for the eliminations took place on December 12-13, 2024. The initial Rogers press release announcing the season's competitors included comedians Anesti Danelis, Matt Wright and Tape Face, singers

Darby Mills Darby Phyllis Mills is a Canadian rock vocalist, former figure skater, and the past lead singer of the Headpins. She has embarked on a solo career, having signed a worldwide record contract and released both a remastered solo album and a live C ...

and Yama Laurent, and Choir! Choir! Choir!."Canada’s Got Talent Reveals the Showstopping Acts Competing for $1M Grand Prize from Rogers"

, March 4, 2025.

Season overview

The Eliminations summary

Buzzed Out , , , The Eliminations (May 6th) The judges could not decide between four acts (Carsim Birmingham, The Jambo Brothers, Nicolina and Tulga) who should advance, so decided to put it up to a Public Vote to determine which two would become finalists. The winners were revealed to be Carsim and Nicolina. Shania Twain was absent from The Eliminations due to being on her world tour at the time.

Live Finale (May 13)

: , , , ,

References

{{Canada's Got Talent 2025 Canadian television seasons 5