12 holiday movies with Canadian connections to stream this season

It’s the time of the year to switch off for the holidays and get cosy with a holiday movie or two. Streaming services are offering all the holiday charm with a wide selection of movies to put you right into that festive spirit.

While Hollywood has its appeal, Canadian cities and small towns are often prime destinations for filming many of these Christmas gems. Here’s a roundup of holiday films to stream that have a Canadian connection or two.

The Christmas Chronicles

Filmed entirely in the GTA, “The Christmas Chronicles” follows siblings Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis), whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about.

Streams on Netflix

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two

This time, the sequel was filmed in the lush landscapes of Vancouver and Whistler. Picking up two years later, Kate (Camp) is now a cynical teenager, reluctantly spending Christmas in Cancun with her mom’s new boyfriend and his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). When a mysterious, magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to destroy the North Pole, Kate and Jack are pulled into a new adventure with Santa Claus (Russell).

Streams on Netflix

Noelle

“Noelle” follows Kris Kringle’s daughter Noelle (Anna Kendrick), who must save the family business when her father retires and her brother (Bill Hader), who is supposed to take over for their father, gets cold feet. This film was also mostly filmed in Vancouver.

Streams on Disney Plus

Love Hard

Filmed in Vancouver, “Love Hard” is a modern rom-com about online dating. After meeting her perfect match on a dating app, L.A. writer Natalie (Nina Dobrev) flies 3,000 miles to surprise him for Christmas only to learn she’s been catfished.

Streams on Netflix

Elf

This cult classic Christmas film was partly filmed in Vancouver, using sound stages and on-site shooting. It follows Buddy (Will Ferrell) who was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a baby and raised by Santa’s elves. When he grows up, he travels to New York in search of his real father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman who has lost the Christmas spirit.

Streams on Crave

The Santa Clause

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) accidentally kills Santa and then becomes Santa after putting on the red suit. This film was mainly shot in Toronto.

Streams on Disney Plus

Single All the Way

Filmed throughout Quebec, the film follows Peter (Michael Urie) as he convinces his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship in order to avoid his family’s judgment. But when Peter’s mother (Kathy Najimy) sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James (Luke Macfarlane), the plan goes awry.

Streams on Netflix

The Knight Before Christmas

A medieval knight (Josh Whitehouse) is thrown into the present day and soon falls in love with a science teacher (Vanessa Hudgens), just in time for Christmas. This was filmed in Orillia and Bracebridge in Ontario.

Streams on Netflix

The Holiday Calendar

Niagara-on-the-Lake is on full display in this film, in which photographer Abby (Kat Graham) discovers that the antique advent calendar she inherited seems to predict her future, including a budding romance.

Streams on Netflix

Christmas Inheritance

Filmed in North Bay, the film follows heiress Ellen Langford (Eliza Taylor), who is in line to inherit her father’s business. But before she does, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad’s former partner in Snow Falls.

Streams on Netflix

A Christmas Story

This classic was partly filmed in Toronto and it earned two Canadian Genie Awards in 1984. In the 1940s, a nine-year-old named Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) tries to convince his parents and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.

Streams on Prime Video

A Christmas Story Christmas

In this sequel to the 1983 film, Ralphie (Billingsley) reconnects with old friends when he returns to his childhood home in Cleveland to give his kids a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up.

Streams on Crave

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