Best New Documentaries to Watch in Canada 2026 — That Actually Deliver

The documentary has never been a more compelling art form. The combination of streaming platforms willing to fund ambitious long-form non-fiction and a generation of filmmakers who understand how to make documentary television as gripping as drama has produced an exceptional range of work. Here are the best documentaries available to Canadian viewers right now.

Best New Documentaries of 2025–2026

Six Nations: Full Contact (Netflix)

Behind-the-scenes access to four Six Nations rugby union teams across a tournament cycle. Brilliant — especially the scenes with Ireland's staff and England's dressing room dynamics. The best sports documentary on Netflix since Drive to Survive.

Beckham (Netflix)

Four episodes of David Beckham's life, career and marriage told with remarkable candour and extraordinary archive footage. Even for viewers with no interest in football, this is compelling television about fame, family and reinvention.

100 Foot Wave (HBO / Crave)

The story of surfer Garret McNamara's obsession with riding a 100-foot wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. Visually stunning, emotionally gripping, and one of the finest sports documentaries of the decade.

Making a Murderer (Netflix)

If you haven't watched it yet, this is the documentary that changed the true crime genre permanently. The story of Steven Avery's murder conviction in Wisconsin is essential — ethically complex and compulsively watchable.

Documentaries Worth Seeking Out on BritBox

• Louis Theroux: Forbidden America — Three episodes exploring extreme US subcultures. Essential Theroux, streaming on BritBox in Canada.
• Michael Palin: Into Iraq — Palin's 1,000-mile odyssey along the Tigris is as sharp as his classic travelogues. Available to rent or buy on Apple TV in Canada.
• The Rescue (2021) — Oscar-winning National Geographic documentary about the Thai cave rescue. Extraordinary, and streaming on Disney+.

Nature Documentaries in Canada

David Attenborough's BBC nature documentaries represent the pinnacle of the form. Planet Earth III, Wild Isles and Blue Planet II are all available to Canadian viewers via Apple TV, Prime Video and Discovery+, in 4K HDR where your setup supports it.

For more wildlife, BBC Earth — the Blue Ant Media specialty channel that carries the BBC's natural history catalogue in Canada — is a fixture on many IPTV and cable line-ups, with individual landmark series like Dynasties and The Mating Game also available via Discovery+ and Prime Video's BBC Earth channel, and Prehistoric Planet streaming exclusively on Apple TV+. For homegrown storytelling, CBC Gem carries the long-running The Nature of Things alongside Parenthood, its Attenborough-narrated Canadian exclusive.

True Crime Picks for 2026

• The Staircase (Netflix) — The original true crime documentary series that predicted the genre's rise.
• I Just Killed My Dad (Netflix) — The Anthony Templet case. Three parts, genuinely disturbing.
• The Jinx (Crave) — Robert Durst's extraordinary televised confession. Six episodes and an unforgettable finale.