In January, at the 2013 Canadian Championships, Chan ranked first in both segments and won his sixth Canadian national title. At the 2013 World Championships, held in London, Ontario, Canada, Chan won the short program where he landed a 4T-3T combination, 3A, and 3Lz, and received level fours in his spins and footwork earning 6.81 points more than Denis Ten from Kazakhstan. He set a new world record score under the ISU Judging System. He committed some mistakes in his jumps in the free skating and placed second in that segment of the competition but obtained enough points to keep the lead. He finished first with 267.78 points overall, edging Ten for the gold medal by 1.3 points. It was Chan's third consecutive World title. The result was debated by many skating experts, some believing that Ten merited the victory.