When will Alexa be available in Canada?

That’s the million dollar question… well, actually more like the $49.99 question, but you get the idea.

There’s a short answer and a long answer to that question.

First, the short answer.

No one truly knows when Alexa will be available in Canada. Period. [UPDATE Nov 15/17: Alexa is now available in Canada!] Get Alexa Here!

Now for the the long answer (and better answer, in my opinion)

First, just some quick background on Alexa. Amazon first released Alexa in the United States back in November 2014 (just 3 year ago). The response was overwhelming, with early adopters snatching up the new personal assistant at incredible rates.

Then in 2016, Echo and Alexa became available in Germany and the U.K, introducing Alexa to Europe for the first time.

On Oct 4, 2017, Amazon brought the Echo devices to India and Japan, expanding into other corners of the world.

Analysts now estimate that there are already 10 million Echo devices out in the world already, and Amazon has more than 5000 employees currently working on Alexa. Talk about a new technology catching on!!

So, why was Canada left out? And back to our question, when will Alexa be available in Canada?

Well, we don’t really know why Alexa is not yet available in Canada, but one rumour is that making Alexa bilingual to support English and French may be part of the hold-up. Remember, that’s just one theory.

In any case, we do know that Amazon is working on making Alexa available in Canada sometime in the near future (hopefully, sooner rather than later, fingers crossed!).

Here are some of the things that have been going on that make it seem like Alexa is close to being released in Canada:

  • In August of 2017 a number of Canadian users reported that the Amazon Echo devices (obtained from the States) started to accept Canadian addresses for local information. This shows that programming has been added to Alexa specific to Canada. This can only mean that Amazon is preparing to make it available in Canada.
  • Amazon has Ottawa and Toronto based development labs, and over the past 6 months Amazon has posted new jobs to help with Alexa development in these Canadians labs. Hmmmmm……
  • In August 2017, two new Canadian Alexa skills were added to her repertoire. The first is The Weather Network flash briefing. This one allows Alexa to give Canadian Weather forecasts. The second is The Global News flash briefing. Similarly this allows Alexa to tell the Canadian news headlines when asked. These are in addition to the many other Canadian skills that are already available. Either the developers of these skills know something we don’t or they are getting a jump on making Canadian content in anticipation of the Canadian Alexa launch.
  • Google Home (Amazon Alexa’s competitor) launched in Canada in June 2017. Why is this important? Because there is a race to gain market share amongst the companies that are producing intelligent digital assistants. Amazon surely doesn’t want to get left behind.

So, when will Alexa be available in Canada?

No one really knows, but all signs point to very soon. Maybe even for this holiday season?! One can hope.

In the meantime, here are 6 ways to get Alexa in Canada while waiting for the official launch.

Do you have any other secrets or inside info that might hint on the release date for Canada? Please comment below and let us know!