Who Is in the Top Chef Canada Season 13 Cast? The Nine New Chefs, Hometowns and Judges
Corus has put names to nine of the twelve chairs in the Top Chef Canada kitchen. The other three belong to returning alumni, and the network is holding those names back until the premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
| Chef | Age | Hometown | Restaurant or business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephanie Baryluk | 36 | Tsawwassen, B.C. | Nihkhah Inc. |
| Samuel Chastenay-Joseph | 35 | Montréal | Head chef |
| Kathryn Ferries | 33 | Ottawa | Around the Block Butcher and Market |
| Lifini “Lif” Kalikutty | 30 | Markham, Ont. | Contrada |
| Abigail Lopez | 36 | Edmonton | Private chef, Don Emiliano Hospitality Inc. |
| Giovanni Meyer | 34 | Milton, Ont. | Private chef, Pinch of Black Salt |
| Sara Raspa | 33 | Montréal | Le Violon |
| Hilarie Vatcher | 37 | St. John's, N.L. | No.4 Restaurant and Bar & Bite Me Catering |
| Sebouh “Seb” Yacoubian | 32 | Toronto | Taline |
- Bottom line: nine newcomers are named, in the order Corus listed them. Three alumni make up the rest of the twelve, and Corus says the premiere will reveal who they are.
- Season 13 starts Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Flavour Network, with STACKTV as the only streaming route.
- Eden Grinshpan hosts. Janet Zuccarini, Mark McEwan and Mijune Pak judge, and David Zilber comes back for the finale.
Who is in the Top Chef Canada Season 13 cast?
The table above is the complete list of new competitors from Corus Entertainment's Sept. 23 release, which gives each chef's age, hometown and current kitchen. The Montrealer ran the same nine names, ages and restaurants on Oct. 8 in a piece on the two Montréal chefs, so the details match in two places.
Corus describes the field as “12 of the country's most talented professional chefs, including three returning alumni hungry for redemption.” The release calls the alumni twist a franchise first, and it stops there. Nobody has published their names, and we won't guess at them.
For the premiere date, the feed times and the judges in one place, see our Top Chef Canada Season 13 premiere guide. This page is the roster.
Where are the Season 13 chefs from?
Ontario sends four of the nine named chefs: Kathryn Ferries from Ottawa, Lif Kalikutty from Markham, Giovanni Meyer from Milton and Seb Yacoubian from Toronto. Quebec has two, Samuel Chastenay-Joseph and Sara Raspa, both based in Montréal.
The rest are spread one per province: Stephanie Baryluk in Tsawwassen, B.C., Abigail Lopez in Edmonton and Hilarie Vatcher in St. John's. Those counts are ours, from the release. The three alumni will change the map once their names are out.
Ages run from 30 to 37. Lif Kalikutty is the youngest named chef at 30 and Hilarie Vatcher the oldest at 37. Two of the nine, Lopez and Meyer, work as private chefs, Ferries runs a butcher shop and market rather than a dining room, and Vatcher splits her time between a restaurant and a catering business.
Who are the three returning alumni?
Corus hasn't said, and neither has Flavour Network. The release says the premiere “will reveal three standout Top Chef Canada alumni” competing for a second shot at the title, and The Montrealer's Oct. 8 story repeats that line without adding names.
Twelve seasons of past competitors leave a long list of candidates, so we'd rather wait than speculate. We'll add the three names here after the Oct. 20 episode airs, with the season each chef first appeared in.
It's the same approach we took with the Traitors Canada Season 4 cast and the MasterChef Canada Season 9 roster, where the pages track who's still in week by week.
Who is hosting and judging Top Chef Canada Season 13?
Eden Grinshpan returns as host, and the resident panel is the same trio as last season: Janet Zuccarini, Mark McEwan and Mijune Pak. David Zilber sits on the panel for the finale only.
The guest list is long. Corus names chefs Daniel Boulud, May Chow, Gregory Gourdet, François-Emmanuel Nicol, Rob Rossi, Jessica Rosval and Masaki Saito, plus Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. Toronto Tempo players Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes appear in a challenge built around the WNBA team.
Season 12 winner Coulson Armstrong is back as a guest judge in the premiere. The Flavour Network trailer below is the only official look at the Season 13 kitchen so far.
When does Top Chef Canada Season 13 premiere, and where can you watch it?
Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Flavour Network. Corus lists STACKTV as the exclusive streaming home, which is sold through Prime Video Channels and several TV provider apps. It isn't on Crave, because Top Chef Canada is a Corus show rather than a Bell one.
That makes Tuesday a two-kitchen night for the next several weeks. MasterChef Canada is on CTV at 7 p.m. ET/PT the same evening, with episode four, “Game Day,” on Oct. 13, per CTV's Toronto and Vancouver station schedules. Our where to watch Canadian reality TV guide sorts both shows by service, and the fall premiere dates page keeps the calendar.
Where was Season 13 filmed?
Partly in Quebec. Corus mentions a trip to Charlevoix and Quebec City, including filming at Restaurant Tanière³. The Toronto Tempo challenge is the other location the release singles out.
One challenge is inspired by Top Chef Canada: The Dessert Table, the spinoff Corus describes as recently announced. The release doesn't say which episode, so we'll flag it in the Top Chef Canada section when it airs.
FAQ
How many chefs are in Top Chef Canada Season 13?
Twelve: the nine named above plus three returning alumni.
Is Top Chef Canada Season 13 on Crave?
No. Corus names STACKTV as the exclusive streaming service, and Flavour Network carries the broadcast.
Who won Top Chef Canada Season 12?
Coulson Armstrong, who returns as a guest judge in the Season 13 premiere.
Sources
- Corus Entertainment: Top Chef Canada returns for Season 13 (Sept. 23, 2026)
- The Montrealer: Top Chef Canada returns with two Montreal chefs (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Flavour Network on YouTube: Top Chef Canada first look trailer (Sept. 23, 2026)
- CTV Toronto station schedule (Bell Media schedule feed) (MasterChef Canada Oct. 13 slot only)