Netflix kills Basic plan for new subs in Canada forcing them to choose Basic with ads or to pay more

You may remember when last year, Netflix introduced a cheaper ad-supported plan in an attempt to gain more subscribers amidst a wave of people leaving the streaming service.

However, alongside the ad-supported plan, Netflix also has a basic plan without ads. Now, it seems this plan will be no more, reports 9to5Mac. At least in Canada, Netflix has quietly removed the plan from the subscription options. This way, you can either choose an ad-supported tier or go for a more expensive tier.

Netflix has removed its Basic plan without ads in Canada

Right now, Netflix's website in Canada doesn't offer the basic plan without ads as an option for new subscribers. There's no information right now on whether or not this is a permanent decision or a temporary one, but it looks pretty permanent. It also isn't clear what happens to the subscribers who currently have the basic plan without ads.

In most countries, the streaming service is available with four options: Basic with ads, Basic, Standard, and Premium. On the basic plans, you can watch movies and TV shows in 720p resolution, and you can use a single device only. The Standard plan allows for 1080p resolution and two devices. Premium gives you access to 4K content, and support for up to four different devices.

In Canada, the "Basic with ads" plan has now been rebranded as "Standard with ads". It supports 1080p resolutions and two devices.

Prices in Canada right now are as follows:

• 5.99 CAD / month for Standard with ads plan
  
• 16.49 CAD / month for the Standard plan
• 20.99 CAD / month for the Premium plan

The Basic plan without ads (which now does not exist) used to cost 9.99 CAD. This change pretty much means that if you don't want to watch ads, you'll have to pay extra.

For now, in the U.S., Netflix plans have remained Standard with ads for $6.99 / month, Basic: $9.99 / month, Standard: $15.49 / month, and Premium: $19.99 / month. It is unclear whether Netflix plans to remove the Basic plan in other countries at the moment and when. When we know more, we'll let you know.