MasterChef Canada Season 9 Starts Sept. 22: Time, Channel, Judges and the Beef Wellington Opener
| Season 9 at a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT |
| Channel | CTV |
| Streaming | Crave, the next day |
| Episodes | 11 |
| Home cooks | 16 |
| Prize | $100,000 and the MasterChef Canada title |
| Judges | Mary Berg, Hugh Acheson, Craig Wong |
The gist:
- Season 9 opens Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, the earliest slot of any CTV competition show this fall.
- The first challenge is Beef Wellington, and Gordon Ramsay turns up for it.
- Crave carries each episode the following day, which makes Wednesday the catch-up night.
Bell Media put the date out on Sept. 2, and it lands CTV's kitchen show one night after The Traitors Canada returns. Two homegrown competition series in two nights is the tightest reality stretch the network has had this year.
When does MasterChef Canada Season 9 premiere?
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, with 11 episodes ordered. CTV signed off on a ninth season back on Dec. 1, 2025, and casting ran through the winter and spring.
One thing to watch if you cross-check elsewhere: TVmaze still had no Season 9 episodes listed when we checked this morning, and its show page still describes the series as a Thursday 9 p.m. title, which it has not been for years. Its last entry is the Season 8 finale from Dec. 17, 2025. Use CTV's own listing until the database catches up — the same warning we put on our fall premiere dates page.
What happens in the premiere episode?
It is called “Battle Wellington,” and the brief is exactly that: 16 home cooks, one Beef Wellington each. The top four walk away with White Aprons on the spot.
Everyone else gets a second brief — a dish built around a restaurant meal that meant something to them — and only the ones who land it join the Top 12. Gordon Ramsay, who has never been a judge on the Canadian version, appears in the episode.
Who judges MasterChef Canada now?
Mary Berg hosts and judges. She won Season 3 of this show in 2016, went on to her own daytime cooking series, and has a Canadian Screen Award to her name, so the person handing out aprons this month once cooked for one.
Beside her are Hugh Acheson, the Ottawa-raised chef and author who has been with the Canadian panel for several seasons, and Craig Wong, the Toronto chef-restaurateur behind Patois. The trio is unchanged from Season 8.
How do you stream MasterChef Canada in Canada?
Crave picks up each episode the day after it airs on CTV, and the back catalogue of earlier seasons sits there too. If you have a TV provider, CTV.ca and the CTV app will also play it.
There is no American or British broadcaster in this chain, so there is nothing to wait for and no delay to work around — the messy cases are the imports, which our sister site maps in which Canadian channel carries each US show this fall. Crave's wider library is covered in the same site's explainer on HBO and Max titles in Canada.
What time is MasterChef Canada in my time zone?
Bell Media published two numbers, 7 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT, which is how CTV handles its regional feeds. The rest of the map follows the feed your provider carries.
| Zone | Premiere night | Local start | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern (ET) | Tue, Sept. 22 | 7 p.m. | Bell Media's published time |
| Pacific (PT) | Tue, Sept. 22 | 7 p.m. | Bell Media's published time |
| Atlantic (AT) | Tue, Sept. 22 | 8 p.m. | One hour ahead of the eastern feed |
| Newfoundland (NT) | Tue, Sept. 22 | 8:30 p.m. | 90 minutes ahead of the eastern feed |
| Central / Mountain | Tue, Sept. 22 | Check your CTV station | Only ET and PT were published |
A 7 p.m. start is early for a competition show, and it puts MasterChef Canada opposite local news in much of the country rather than opposite another network's reality hour.
What else is CTV airing that week?
Monday belongs to The Traitors Canada, back on Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET with 22 players and a new night. Tuesday is this one at 7 p.m. The two used to overlap; this fall they do not.
The slot MasterChef Canada is filling was The Amazing Race Canada's until last week — Tina and Liz Liao took Season 12 on Sept. 15. Our week-ahead schedule for Sept. 21–27 lays the whole grid out night by night, and the where-to-watch guide covers which service holds each Canadian title. CTV's other big name is further out: Big Brother Canada is booked for 2027.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gordon Ramsay a judge this season?
No. Bell Media describes a special appearance in the premiere, not a seat on the panel. The judges are Mary Berg, Hugh Acheson and Craig Wong.
How many episodes are there?
Eleven, which matches Season 8's run. At one a week, that carries the season into early December.
Can you watch it without a TV subscription?
Yes, through Crave the day after broadcast. CTV.ca and the CTV app need a participating provider sign-in.