The Traitors Canada/Season 1

***The Traitors Canada Season 1*** is the first season of *The Traitors Canada*. It is broadcast on CTV every Monday at 10:00pm Canadian Eastern Time, starting from October 2, 2023.

## Background

The existence of two Canadian versions of *The Traitors* - a nationwide English version and a Quebec-only French version - was announced on June 6, 2023 by Bell Media. It was also revealed that Canadian actor Karine Vanasse would host both the English and French editions, making her the first person to host multiple versions of the franchise. Two days later on June 8, 2023, Noovo also revealed that the English version of *The Traitors* would include some celebrity participants. Bell Media's Content Development and Programming VP Justin Stockman further revealed that Vanasse's contract had been finalised less than a week ago, with both versions slated to film back-to-back in Quebec over the summer, before they debuted in September 2023.

Filming began in August 2023, with the casting of *Survivor* winner Erika Casupanan revealed on August 7, 2023 alongside most of the reality TV veterans - such as *Big Brother Canada* HouseGuests Kevin Martin and Kuzie Mujakachi as well as Miss Fiercalicious from *Canada's Drag Race*. The show's social media accounts went active on August 15, 2023 shortly after filming was complete, posting first teasers.  Its official airdate was then confirmed on September 14, 2023, and the official cast reveal on September 18, 2023.

### Episode Titles

Unlike most international editions of the show, the Canadian edition gives each episode non-generic titles.

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Celebrities vs. Civilians:** This season adopted a cast of 8 celebrities and reality TV veterans, competing against 12 civilians who were mostly newcomers to reality TV (including 2 reality TV participants who were reclassified as civilians in the show's marketing).
* **Banishment or Murder:** At a dinner party in Episode 8, Karine announced to the remaining contestants that there would be either a Banishment or Murder that night (but not both). For a Banishment to take place, the group had to unanimously agree on it; additionally, the prize pot would either be increased by C$10,000 (if a Traitor was Banished that night), or decreased by C$10,000 (if a Faithful was Banished instead).
* **Traitors' Ultimatum:** At the end of Episode 9, there was only one Traitor left. They had the option of offering an Ultimatum to a Faithful of their choice, who would either be obliged to accept Recruitment or be Murdered otherwise.

## Contestants

The cast was comprised of 20 Canadians, with a mix of celebrities and civilians.

 **Winner: Traitor**

 **Finalist: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Disqualified: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ At the Dinner party, Karine asked the guests to choose between Murder or Banish. If any of them choose Murder, there will be no Banishment and the Traitors will Murder one of the Faithfuls. And if all of them choose Banish, they will proceeded to the Roundtable and Banish one of them. If they manage to Banish a Traitor, the group will earn C$10,000 but if they Banished a Faithful, the group will lose C$10,000 from their prize pot.
2. ↑ Domenic was removed from the game for an unspecified breach of the game rules.

## Season Overview

### Episode 1

*Airdate: October 2, 2023*

* **Traitors Selected:** Kuzie, Melissa B & Mike
* **Mission Synopsis:** Quarry Blowup
The 20 contestants were divided into two teams: one team of 12 digging through rubble to find coloured cables that needed to be placed inside the same-coloured boxes, and a team of 8 'faster' players who had to run 1 kilometre to retrieve coloured wooden boxes and a detonator. The contestants had 30 minutes to assemble all the detonation components correctly, blow up the quarry and earn C$20,000 for the prize fund.
* **Prize Earned:** C$20,000 out of C$20,000

### Episode 2

*Airdate: October 9, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Erika*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Buried Alive
6 volunteers were led to an undisclosed location and buried alive. The remaining contestants were split into 3 teams, tasked with finding two buried contestants each. The buried contestants could communicate with their teammates using a walkie talkie, and direct them to locations within the castle grounds using clues within their coffin. Each contestant rescued before the 45 minute time limit would add C$1,500 to the prize fund.
* **Prize Earned:** C$6,000 out of C$9,000
* **Banished:** *Collin* (14-5)

### Episode 3

*Airdate: October 16, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Nazila*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Laser Heist
The contestants took turns to make their way across a laser-filled room, full of artifacts each assigned a different value. They had 30 minutes to transport as many valuable artifacts as they could across the room; however, extra lasers was added after successful attempts. Additionally, if someone set off a laser, one minute was taken off the clock, and they were forced to drop out and wait their turn again.
* **Prize Earned:** C$10,000 out of C$23,150
* **Banished:** *Melissa B* (9-4-2-1-1)

### Episode 4

*Airdate: October 23, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Gurpyar*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Landing Signals
The 15 remaining contestants were divided into 2 teams of 7 and 8, each with a designated team captain. The mission took place over 3 rounds; each round would last up to 10 minutes, with the team captains having to memorise a landing pattern on the side of the airstrip, that they then had to order their teammates to assemble using the correct pieces in time. Each time both teams recreated the correct pattern within the time limit, a flight would land and C$2,000 was earned for the jackpot. The team that made the most correct patterns in the fastest amount of time also gained access to the Armoury.
* **Prize Earned:** C$2,000 out of C$6,000
* **Armoury Access:** Crystal, Fierce, Gurleen, Kevin, Kuzie, Leroy & Mary
* **Shield:** Kuzie

### Episode 5

*Airdate: October 30, 2023*

* **Banished:** *Rick* (11-3-1)
* **Murdered:** *Crystal*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Church Match
The 13 remaining contestants were divided into 2 teams of 7 and 6, and one representative from each team at a time went into the confessional booth to hear a page, paragraph, and line reference from Karine. They would then relay this information to their team and use The Book of Traitors to find a riddle – leading to a clothing item worn by one member of the masked congregation. Only the first team to identify an item counted, and each correctly-identified item earned C$2,000 for the pot. A total of 3 rounds were played, and the team that identified the most correct items would be given the first opportunity to visit the Armoury and potentially earn a Shield.
* **Prize Earned:** C$6,000 out of C$6,000
* **Armoury Access:** Domenic, Fierce, Gurleen, Kuzie, Leroy, Melissa A & Mickey
* **Shield:** Mickey
* **Banished:** *Fierce* (7-3-2-1)

### Episode 6

*Airdate: November 6, 2023*

* **Deathrow:** *Kevin, Mary & Melissa A*
* **Disqualified:** *Domenic*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Spot the Differences
The contestants will be randomly picked into three teams, each captained by the three guests on Deathrow (Kevin, Mary & Melissa A). Each team took turns to enter Karine's parlor, which was ransacked with an assortment of items. They were given a short amount of time to memorise the items in the room and their placement, before the lights were cut and the voices of eliminated contestants would play. A total of three items would be swapped, and a team would have one minute to identify these changes and bring them to Karine. For each items the team correctly identified, C$1,000 will be added to the prize pot. The team that identified the most items correctly (or within the fastest time, in the case of a tie) would earn their captain an Armoury Pass.
* **Prize Earned:** C$3,000 out of C$9,000
* **Armoury Access:** Kevin
* **Shield:** Kevin
* **Banished:** *Kevin* (7-2-2)

### Episode 7

*Airdate: November 13, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Mary*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Barrel Roll
As a group, the contestants had 45 minutes to transport whiskey barrels through a forest. Along the path there were fifteen barrels valued between $250 and $6,000 and Armory barrels - the heavier the barrel, the harder it would be to transport. Any barrels that made it across the finish line before time was up, would add money to the prize. If any of the Armory barrels crossed the finish line, the group could select any of that number of contestants to go to the Armory.
* **Prize Earned:** C$10,500 out of C$21,000
* **Armoury Access:** *None*
* **Shield:** *No one*
* **Banished:** *Melissa A* (7-2)

### Episode 8

*Airdate: November 20, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Mai*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Carnival Wheel
A different variation of Carnival Wheel, as Karine will randomly pick three contestants to participate in the "Disappearing Box". The remaining contestants on the ground will have to answer questions with the name of a contestant on the Box. Each contestant on the Box would also answer the question, and for each of their answers that matched the group's answer, C$500 was added to the prize fund. Each contestant on the Box has a balloon as their lifeline: If the contestants hear their name once, they must let go of the balloon; if they hear it again, they are "vanished" and eliminated from the game. If a contestant is eliminated, a new contestant from the group will be randomly picked to replace and participate. The Mission will continue until there is only one contestant on the ground and one of the three contestants on the Box is eliminated.
* **Prize Earned:** C$9,000 out of C$12,000
* **Banished:** *Kuzie* (5-2)
* **Prize Earned:** C$10,000 out of C$10,000

### Episode 9

*Airdate: November 27, 2023*

* **Recruitment:** Mickey *(Accepted)*
* **Mission Synopsis:**
Two guests who were absent from the Breakfast (Gurleen & Travon), were taken inside the fort. The remaining players at the Breakfast table followed Karine outside the fort and rescued the taken players by collecting three keys from 3 out of 15 wanted posters corresponding to them. Then, using the catapult to deliver the keys to the inside of the fort, the taken players will use it to unlock one of the locks, which light up the bulbs outside the fort to indicate that the lock has been opened. In order to find the correct key, the insiders will describe one word on the wanted poster based on their features, hairstyles, or accessories. They will send that word to the outsiders using a Morse code communication system to interpret the word. If the key the insider received does not open the lock, they will send another key word to the outsiders to narrow it down. If the insiders manage to unlock all 3 locks and escape within 30 minutes, the group will earn C$1,000 for each keys that was left on the wanted poster board, meaning the maximum amount of money they could earn up to C$12,000 by only choosing 3 correct keys successfully.
* **Prize Earned:** C$11,000 out of C$12,000
* **Banished:** *Mickey* (3-2-1)

### Episode 10

*Airdate: December 4, 2023*

* **Mission Synopsis**:
The Final Five contestants were separated into two groups of two and three. They were tied against each other and had bags in their heads in the forest. After removing the rope that tied them, the contestants will open a small box on the ground, revealing the final Mission of the season: Using the rope, the compass in the box, and the clues in the note, each group will search for bags, each worth of C$1,000 in gold coins, hidden in 5 different locations in the forest. When the contestants hear the flare gun sound, they must search for the signal on the walkie-talkie, which Karine revealed they have 3 minutes to run and swim into the middle of the lake to find a large chest floating on the board. They must then drop the gold coins in the chest and attach a cable on Karine's helicopter to the chest before the time runs out in order to earn the money for the final prize pot.
* **Prize Earned**: C$7,000 out of C$10,000
* **Banished**:
	+ *Travon* (4-1)
	+ *Donna* (3-1)
	+ *Leroy* (2-1)
* **Runners-Up(s):** *Gurleen*
* **Winner: *Mike***

## Viewership

The Canadian organisation measuring television audiences, Numeris, has ceased publication of figures publicly. Therefore, reliable viewership figures are largely unavailable. However, some verified information available are as follows:

* According to the official pitch deck from All3Media International, the premiere episode attracted 549,000 viewers, with a 10.3% audience share.
	+ The premiere also earned a 12.9% share of Adults 18-49, outperforming the slot benchmark by 48%. It scored a 12.1% share of Adults 18-34, again surpassing the slot average by 38%. 37% of the program's viewers were under 50, 7% higher than CTV’s average profile. It garnered a 9.6% share of Men 18+, which exceeded the slot average by 9%. It also secured a 10.6% share of Women 18+, matching the slot average.
* According to *The Globe and Mail*, *The Traitors Canada* was the numvber one new Canadian show in the 2023 fall season, followed weekly by 1.2 million viewers live or on streaming.

## Trivia

* The production team intended to recreate the Wicker Beasts Mission common in many other franchises, but could not do so because of forest fires in Quebec over the whole of summer.
* Contestants Kevin and Crystal noted that the catering during the game was subpar, with Kevin even successfully pleading with the producers to Uber Eats him a rotisserie chicken.

## References

1. ↑ Bell Media sneaks Traitors into Canada with local versions in English, French | C21 Media — June 6, 2023
2. ↑ Bell Media Announces 2023/24 Original Programming Slate | Bell Media — June 8, 2023
3. ↑ Bell Media touts 'strike-proof' TV slates as Hollywood labour disputes heat up | CTV News — June 9, 2023
4. ↑ Former Survivor Winner to Compete on The Traitors Canada | Inside Survivor — August 7, 2023
5. ↑ Post by The Traitors Canada | Twitter — August 15, 2023
6. ↑ Post by The Traitors Canada | Twitter — August 15, 2023
7. ↑ Post by The Traitors Canada | Twitter — September 14, 2023
8. ↑ The Traitors: Canada | Bell Media — September 18, 2023
9. ↑ The Traitors Sales Presentation | All3Media International
10. ↑ The Traitors Canada finale sees yet another country’s reality television stars fall to lies and misinformation | The Globe and Mail — December 5, 2023
11. ↑ (FR) *Les traitres* : Découvrez des images du magnifique plateau de la téléréalité de Karine Vanasse | Showbizz.net — October 2, 2023
12. ↑ 'Traitors Canada' stars Kevin Martin, Crystal Mayes expose bad food on the show | Yahoo News — November 14, 2023