The Amazing Race Canada

The Race

The Amazing Race Canada is a reality television competition between at least nine teams of two. The race is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain clues to help them progress to a Pit Stop, where they are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize while the last team is normally eliminated from the race (except in non-elimination legs). The final leg of each race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins CA$250,000, two vehicles of any Chevrolet model cars and unlimited air travel for a year with Air Canada.

In the second season, Petro-Canada and Scotiabank were added as sponsors, with the team winning a lifetime supply of gasoline from Petro-Canada. In the third season, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) replaced Scotiabank as the financial sponsor. In the fourth season, Hotels.com replaced Air Canada as the trip sponsor.

Teams

Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 42 teams, or 84 contestants, have participated in The Amazing Race Canada.

Route Markers

Route Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark places where teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow.

Clues

Clues are found throughout the race in sealed envelopes, normally inside clue boxes. They give teams the information they need and tasks they need to do in order for them to progress through the race.

Route Info: A general clue that may include a task to be completed by the team before they can receive their next clue.

Detour: A choice of two tasks. Teams are free to choose either task or swap tasks if they find one option too difficult.

Roadblock: A task only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will challenge the task based on a brief clue about the task before fully revealing the details of the task.

Fast Forward: A task that only one team may complete, allowing that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly for the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race.

Obstacles

Teams may encounter the following that may affect their position during the race:

U-Turn: An obstacle where a team can force another trailing team to complete the other option of the Detour they did not select. Teams may use their ability to u-turn another team more than once throughout the race (as opposed to the American version, which allows only one), as shown in Season 3 when Gino & Jesse u-turned two teams.

Face Off: An obstacle which has two teams compete against each other in a specific task. The winning team is given the next clue, while the losing team must wait out a 15-minute penalty before receiving the next clue.

Legs

At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash, usually in Canadian dollars, to cover expenses during the race (except for the purchase of airline tickets, which are paid-for by credit cards provided to the teams).

Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes (which for this series are generally provided by sponsor Air Canada), boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrives last are progressively eliminated from the race until only three teams remain. Most legs comprise three or more challenges, often a Roadblock, Detour and a Route Info Task. The first teams to arrive at the Pit Stop win prizes, usually from the show's sponsors.

The Express Pass, awarded to the winners of the first legs of seasons 1 and 2, allows that team to skip any task they want during the race. In Season 1, Kristen & Darren won this pass, one for themselves and gave the second one to Vanessa & Celina; Kristen & Darren ultimately did not use theirs. Vanessa & Celina used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 4. In Season 2, Natalie & Meaghan won this pass, one for themselves and gave the second one to Pierre & Michel; Natalie & Meaghan used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 3. Pierre & Michel used their Express Pass to bypass the Roadblock in Leg 6.

Starting with Season 3, the Express Pass has been given out in an optional task in Leg 2 right before the Detour, allowing any team to possibly win it rather than it being a definite award for a first-place finish on the leg. In Season 3, Hamilton & Michaelia won this pass, one for themselves and gave the second one to Brent & Sean; Hamilton & Michaelia immediately used their Express Pass to bypass the Detour in Leg 2. Brent & Sean used their Express Pass to bypass a task in Leg 7. In Season 4, Steph & Kristen won this pass, one for themselves and gave the second one to Frankie & Amy; Steph & Kristen ultimately did not use theirs. Frankie & Amy used their Express Pass to bypass the Roadblock in Leg 6.

Non-elimination legs

Each race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue on the race. The non-eliminated team is required to do a Speed Bump sometime during the next leg.

Speed Bump: A task that only the team saved from elimination on the previous leg must complete before continuing on.

Rules and penalties

Most of the rules and penalties are adopted from the American edition.

Seasons

The show first aired in 2013 with the first season premiere airing on July 15, 2013 and ending on September 16, 2013.

Places visited

As of the fourth season, The Amazing Race Canada has visited all of Canada's provinces and territories, in addition to seven foreign countries in Europe, Asia, South America and North America.

The following are the number of times places (including Canadian provinces and territories) are featured in The Amazing Race Canada.

International

Notes