The Traitors Canada/Season 1

The Traitors Canada/Season 1
Season Information
Version	Canada
Season	1
Host(s)	Karine Vanasse
Network	CTV
Filming Location	Manoir Rouville Campbell, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada
Filming Date	August 2023
Production Company	Groupe Entourage
Episodes	10
Premiere	October 2, 2023
Finale	December 4, 2023
Maximum Prize	C$100,000
Final Prize	C$94,500
Cast
Contestants	20 3 original Traitors 17 initial Faithfuls
Traitors	Kuzie Mujakachi Melissa Best Mike D'Urzo Mickey Henry (from Episode 9)
Winning Faction	Traitors
Winner(s)	Mike D'Urzo
Runner(s)-Up	Gurleen Maan
Season Chronology
Next Season	Season 2

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.

Aftershows

While there was no formal aftershow for the program, clips were uploaded on the show's social media accounts documenting Murdered and Banished Faithfuls' guesses on who the Traitors were, as well as their reaction when the actual identities were revealed. Contestant Miss Fiercalicious additionally made bonus content for the show's social media, including episode recaps and exit interviews with other eliminated contestants.

Episode Titles

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

Episode	Title
1	Dead Man Walking
2	Keep Digging
3	This Act is to Die For
4	Landing the Shield
5	Sinners or Saints
6	Ghost Hunting
7	At the Bottom of the Barrel
8	Date with Destiny
9	There's No Escape
10	Trust Your Instincts

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.
• Non reveal: The last contestant banished at the roundtable was not allowed to reveal their role.

Contestants

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

Winner: Traitor    Mike

Finalist: Faithful    Gurleen

Banished: Faithful    Leroy

Banished: Faithful    Donna

Banished: Faithful    Travon

Banished: Traitor    Mickey

Banished: Traitor    Kuzie

Murdered: Faithful    Mai

Banished: Faithful    Melissa A

Murdered: Faithful    Mary

Banished: Faithful    Kevin

Disqualified: Faithful    Domenic

Banished: Faithful    Fierce

Murdered: Faithful    Crystal

Banished: Faithful    Rick

Murdered: Faithful    Gurpyar

Banished: Traitor    Melissa B

Murdered: Faithful    Nazila

Banished: Faithful    Collin

Murdered: Faithful    Erika

Name	Age	Location	Occupation/ Notable For	Faction	Result	Exit Episode	Finish
Mike D'Urzo	39	Toronto, Ontario	Magician & mentalist	Traitor	Winner	Episode 10	1st
Gurleen Maan	35	Abbotsford, British Columbia	Farming for Love	Faithful	Finalist	Episode 10	2nd
Leroy Fontaine	38	Halifax, Nova Scotia	The Brigade: Race to the Hudson	Faithful	Banished	Episode 10	3rd
Donna Hartt	53	Calgary, Alberta	Psychic medium	Faithful	Banished	Episode 10	4th
Travon Smith	28	Toronto, Ontario	Public relations specialist	Faithful	Banished	Episode 10	5th
Mickey Henry	34	Bala, Ontario	The Amazing Race Canada	Traitor (from Episode 9) Faithful (Episodes 1-8)	Banished	Episode 9	6th
Kuzie Mujakachi	29	Victoria, British Columbia	Big Brother Canada	Traitor	Banished	Episode 8	7th
Mai Nguyen	34	Edmonton, Alberta	MasterChef Canada	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 8	8th
Melissa Allder	49	London, Ontario	ESL learning coordinator	Faithful	Banished	Episode 7	9th
Mary Wisden	31	Courtenay, British Columbia	Housewife & amateur stand-up comic	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 7	10th
Kevin Martin	30	Calgary, Alberta	Big Brother Canada	Faithful	Banished	Episode 6	11th
Domenic Isleasi	32	Hamilton, Ontario	Game of Homes	Faithful	Disqualified	Episode 6	12th
Miss Fiercalicious	27	Toronto, Ontario	Canada's Drag Race	Faithful	Banished	Episode 5	13th
Crystal Mayes	50	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Nurse	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 5	14th
Rick Campanelli	53	Burlington, Ontario	Former MuchMusic VJ & radio host	Faithful	Banished	Episode 5	15th
Gurpyar Bains	25	Calgary, Alberta	Paediatric registered nurse	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 4	16th
Melissa Best	35	St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador	Realtor	Traitor	Banished	Episode 3	17th
Nazila Dehghani	47	Newmarket, Ontario	Dentist	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 3	18th
Collin Johnson	37	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Transit operator	Faithful	Banished	Episode 2	19th
Erika Casupanan	34	Toronto, Ontario	Survivor 41	Faithful	Murdered	Episode 2	20th

Voting History

Episode			2	3	4-5	5	6	7	8		9	10
Traitors' Decision			Erika	Nazila	Gurpyar	Crystal	Kevin, Mary & Melissa A	Mary	Mai		Mickey	N.A.					Finale
Banishment			Collin	Melissa B	Rick	Fierce	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Mickey	Travon	Banish Again	Donna	Banish Again	Leroy
Finish	Vote		14-5	9-4-2-1-1	11-3-1	7-3-2-1	7-2-2	7-2	7-0	5-2	3-2-1	4-1	4-0	3-1	3-0	2-1
1		Mike	Collin	Melissa B	Rick	Travon	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Mickey	Travon	Banish Again	Donna	Banish Again	Leroy	Winner
2		Gurleen	Collin	Melissa B	Rick	Mai	Donna	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Mickey	Travon	Banish Again	Donna	Banish Again	Leroy	Finalist
3		Leroy	Collin	Melissa B	Rick	Fierce	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Mickey	Travon	Banish Again	Donna	Banish Again	Mike
4		Donna	Collin	Kevin	Rick	Fierce	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Mike	Travon	Banish Again	Mike
5		Travon	Collin	Kevin	Rick	Mary	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Mike	Mike	Donna
6		Mickey	Collin	Rick	Rick	Fierce	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Kuzie	Leroy
7		Kuzie	Donna	Melissa B	Rick	Fierce	Kevin	Melissa A	Banish	Mike
8		Mai	Collin	Crystal	Rick	Travon	Kevin	Kuzie	Murdered
9		Melissa A	Collin	Crystal	Rick	Fierce	Donna	Kuzie
10		Mary	Collin	Melissa B	Travon	Fierce	Mike	Murdered
11		Kevin	Collin	Melissa B	Travon	Travon	Mike
12		Domenic	Collin	Crystal	Rick	Fierce	Disqualified
13		Fierce	Collin	Melissa B	Rick	Mai
14		Crystal	Donna	Melissa B	Mai	Murdered
15		Rick	Collin	Melissa B	Travon
16		Gurpyar	Donna	Mike	Murdered
17		Melissa B	Collin	Crystal
18		Nazila	Donna	Murdered
19		Collin	Donna
20		Erika	Murdered

Key:

Winner

Finalist

Banished Traitor

Banished Faithful

Murdered

Disqualified

Deathrow

Shielded

Recruited

Traitor

Faithful

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 number 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

The Traitors Canada
Seasons	Season 1 • Season 2
Hosts	Karine Vanasse
Filming locations	Manoir Rouville Campbell