Netflix has quietly ended access to its most affordable ad-free subscription plan in Canada, leaving new subscribers with a choice between its ad-supported tier or its more expensive Standard tier.
New and returning Canadian users, as well as existing users changing their current plan, will no longer be able to choose the streamer’s Basic subscription tier. According to the help page on Netflix’s website, existing Basic subscribers will remain on the plan, but will lose access if they cancel or change their subscription.
The Basic subscription plan, which cost $9.99, was a step down from Netflix’s Standard plan, offering streaming at 720p on a single device at a time.
New subscribers will now have the option of Netflix’s $5.99 ad-supported plan or $16.49 Standard plan, both of which offer 1080p streaming on up to two devices in one household simultaneously. The Standard plan also allows users to download content and the option to add one user outside of the household – which the company refers to as paid sharing – for an additional $7.99 per month. The $20.99 Premium plan allows for streaming in Ultra HD, allows for simulatenous viewing on four devices and has the option of adding up to two extra users outside of the household.
Netflix began a global crackdown on sharing passwords with those outside of a subscriber’s household a month ago, but Canada was among the markets where the company began testing its methods and extra member add-ons in February.
In its first quarter financial report, Netflix said there was a short-term impact on subscriptions going down in Canada and other test markets immediately after the crackdown was implemented, but eventually resulted in higher revenue and user acquisition. In Canada, the company says it has more paid members now than it did prior to launching paid sharing (though it did not specify how many of those were ad-supported subscriptions) with revenue growth now outpacing the U.S. Average revenue per membership – which includes revenue from subscription costs, advertising and users purchasing an extra-user add-on – in the U.S. and Canada was up 9% year-over-year in the quarter.