5 Best VPNs for Torrenting in Canada – Private & Secure P2P in 2022

Do I need a VPN for Torrenting in Canada? Absolutely Yes! Your IP addresses and P2P activity can be easily tracked by online criminals when you download torrents without connecting to the best VPN for torrenting in Canada.

Therefore, you should always use a VPN while torrenting to keep your data private, secure online activity, and enjoy fast and reliable download speeds.

Let’s be honest, all of us, at some point in our lives, had to rely on torrents. While it looks pretty straightforward, in many countries, downloading copyrighted material is punishable by law.

So, does Canada allow torrenting? In recent years, Canadian risks and regulations related to torrents have increased. ISPs must keep user activity logs for at least six months.

Although torrents are not considered utterly illegal, they can have serious consequences depending on the type of file you download. This is why anyone living in Canada should invest in the absolute best VPN for torrenting to protect their privacy.

As using a VPN for downloading torrents now becomes essential, choosing the right VPN is no easy task.  To help you find which VPN is best for torrenting? We have conducted the rigorous tests, and found these 5 best torrent VPN providers. These VPNs completely protect your online security by erasing your digital footprint and hiding your identity while torrenting.

So without any further ado, let’s get started…

Which is the Best VPN For Torrenting in Canada? [Quick Overview]

We do like to mention here that while we don’t condone downloading copyright materials from the internet, we understand that security and privacy are an absolute must when operating in this grey area.

5 Best VPNs for Torrenting in Canada – 2022 [In Depth Analysis]

Our list of best VPNs for torrenting in 2022 is based on pricing, security, servers, and torrenting features.

1. ExpressVPN – Best All-round VPN for Torrenting and Security

Its headquarters is in the British Virgin Islands, and the service uses Advanced Encryption with 256-bit keys. It’s the same encryption standard adopted by the U.S. government and operated by security experts worldwide to protect classified information. Needless to say, it is the best VPN for torrenting games to use in Canada.

A high level of encryption is complimented by its vast network of 3000+ servers, ensuring that you receive high-speed internet on your every connection. Aside from encryption, ExpressVPN also offers other amazing features as well.

ExpressVPN is the fastest VPN for torrenting in Canada that gives unlimited bandwidth. It is a significant advantage for anyone downloading large files. Below is the ExpressVPN speed test result.

Features like Kill Switch will disable the entire internet if the VPN disconnects and Split tunneling, allowing you to split the VPN and Internet Service Provider connection so that your torrent client can be protected with VPN encryption.

Simultaneously, the rest of the device uses an ISP connection, strengthening its armor on the battlefield. Additional security features such as WebRTC leak protection and private DNS, which will prevent your real DNS from leaking online, also help it secure the top spot.

Using ExpressVPN with a Torrent client

Upon testing ExpressVPN torrenting servers, we weren’t surprised to see any leak in its performance.

We used the Germany server as our benchmark for this testing because this location is torrent-friendly in the VPN industry. Unsurprisingly, ExpressVPN was the fastest VPN in our testing for downloading torrents. With the highest speed of 410Kbps and the lowest being 398Kbps.

With its 24/7 customer service feature, you will never be alone if you find yourself in a service problem. Overall, ExpressVPN is a complete package for protecting your digital footprints and offering high-speed internet.

You can also check our in-depth ExpressVPN Review for a better understanding.

2. Surfshark – Affordable VPN for P2P Performance and Speed

Surfshark is an excellent torrent VPN for those who want to stay protected but don’t want to go bust. The best part is that you can secure an unlimited number of devices on a single Surfshark account. Hence it is the best pocket friendly VPN for torrenting in Canada.

Its headquarter is located in the British Virgin Islands, which means no governmental agency can poke its nose and ask for your private data. The VPN service is one of the fastest we’ve tested, so speed shouldn’t be an issue while torrenting with Surfshark.

It also has features such as AES Encryption, multi-hop, DNS leak protection, and kills Switch, and Ad-blocker, making it a great contender for securing your online activities, especially downloading torrents.

Using Surfshark with a Torrent client

Compared to other providers in this list, Surfshark has fewer torrent-friendly servers. But that does not mean losing quickly. With its advanced features, such as multi-hop, camouflage mode, and no-borders mode, you can access any website worldwide without anyone knowing about you.

Surfshark was the first provider not to reach the 100kbps mark in our testing. While its speed may be slow, but still shouldn’t rule it out from a trusted provider list, with the highest being 97Kbps and the lowest being 68Kbps.

Regarding torrent client support, Surfshark works with all major torrent clients. Some notable one includes BitTorrent, uTorrent, Deluge, and Vuze.

You can also check our in-depth Surfshark Review for a better understanding.

3. NordVPN – Largest Number of Secure & P2P Servers for Torrents

NordVPN is the largest P2P server fleet on the market. It operates 5200+ servers across 59 countries. This includes over 5500 P2P optimized servers spread across 59 countries.

NordVPN’s main interface has a simple one-click ‘P2P”option so that you can go directly to the appropriate server when preparing for the torrent.

As expected from the most secure VPN, its headquarters is located in Panama, which has no data retention policy. Meaning not even they know what you are doing after connecting to one of their servers, courtesy of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and multiple connection protocols.

Speed matters – and when you are sharing over the internet, it matters more. NordVPN has no bandwidth limits, won’t throttle your connection, and offers the top speeds on the planet with the lightning-fast Nord Lynx protocol.

Using NordVPN with a Torrent client

NordVPN torrenting servers offer features like DNS leak, Kill Switch, and NordVPN is also the best VPN for Split tunneling so that all your decisions related to privacy will remain in your hands while navigating the world of torrents.

Feature, such as a double VPN, allows you to establish a single connection over two different servers, resulting in enhancing your security in the process. Also, its obfuscated servers are specialized VPN servers that hide the fact that you’re using a VPN to reroute your traffic.

They allow users to connect to a VPN even in heavily restrictive environments. Even without using any additional security features, NordVPN passed the security test.

Regarding speed, the number two provider showed why it was ranked at that place by only losing to ExpressVPN but getting better results than its successors in the list. With the highest speed of 243Kbps and the lowest being 198Kbps.

NordVPN is compatible with popular torrent clients like uTorrent, BitTorrent, and Tixati. It supports up to 6 multi-logins and has a 24/7 customer service team to help you if you do not understand any of the security features mentioned above. With this much emphasis on security and privacy, this VPN is your best companion for P2P/File-sharing.

You can also check our in-depth NordVPN Review for a better understanding.

4. PureVPN – Reliable VPN for Torrenting

PureVPN has the second-largest VPN network among the providers in this list, and they are quite fast. They have a network of 6500+ servers worldwide so that you enjoy uninterrupted and fast internet at any location.

The company was based in Hong Kong and then shifted its headquarters to the British Virgin Islands. It has a no-data retention policy, which is perfect for any VPN provider. Meaning that your online identity, IP address, and activities after connecting to VPN are entirely unknown.

PureVPN was one of the initial providers that introduced a separate mode in their applications just for torrenting. All the applications have specific servers that offer support for torrenting, and their number is quite impressive.

PureVPN speed test showed the server speed isn’t pretty fast, but it’s stable. Here are the speed test results for PureVPN P2P optimized server:

Using PureVPN with a Torrent client

PureVPN is one of the best no-log VPN service of the industry. Its security is nearly impossible to penetrate with encryption levels such as AES, SHA1, and SHA256. A recent log audit by a third-party organization report, which is available online, will be sufficient for any regular User to trust them.

DNS leak protection, IPv6 leak protection, and Internet Kill Switch features are more than enough to prevent your real identity from leaking over the internet while you are sharing files.

You can view their security test result below.

At our 4th spot, PureVPN didn’t live up to its expectation in the speed department, and we were disappointed with the result of the highest speed of 72Kbps and the lowest being 58 Kbps.

PureVPN works with almost all popular torrent clients, including uTorrent, qBittorrent, Vuze, and more. In addition, it allows you to secure up to 10 devices at the same time. Like other providers, they also have 24/7 customer services and a money-back program with a 7-day trial for just $0.99; placing your trust in them is simpler.

Check our in-depth PureVPN Review for a better understanding.

5. Private Internet Access (PIA) – Balanced VPN for Torrent

Kape Technologies acquired private Internet Access in November 2019. It has one of the largest VPN networks in the world.

When it comes to types of encryptions, Private Internet Access supports the AES (128-bit or 256-bit) specifications, SHA1, and SHA256 authentication, and RSA (2048, 3072, 4096) or elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) (256R1, 256K1, 521) handshakes.

However, the default settings are AES-128, SHA1, and RSA-2048. They have a strict log policy, which means no one except you know what you do online.

It has an extensive network of 35000+ servers in over 70+ countries, ensuring that you receive maximum speed & unlimited bandwidth from any location of your choice.

Using Private Internet Access VPN with a torrent client

Private internet access also offers multiple gateways, with a combination of proxy and VPN servers and a straightforward setup that makes it a low-cost and effective solution to your online needs.

You can add features like DNS leak protection, Internet Kill Switch, and IPv6 leak protection to ensure that you will remain hidden from prying eyes when downloading torrents. The security test didn’t show any leak, well.

We expected the outcome with too much focus on the encryption level, but as it has the largest VPN server network, we are confident that speed is just a number. The highest rate we recorded was 65 Kbps, and the lowest we recorded was 48 Kbps.

You can use PIA VPN with almost any BitTorrent client and connect up to 10 devices simultaneously. They also have a 24/7 customer service team to help you and a 30-day money-back guarantee program if you do not like their service.

You can also check our in-depth Private Internet Access Review for a better understanding.

How to Use a VPN for Torrenting in Canada?

Here’s how easy it is to use a VPN for Torrenting in Canada:

Again, don’t use a VPN for anything illegal. You never know when you can get into trouble.

How to Set up a VPN for Torrenting in Canada?

While setting up a VPN before using it for torrenting is very straightforward, sometimes users receive a notice from the Internet Service Provider.

Before you start downloading a torrent, you must ensure that your VPN software is connected to a torrent-friendly server and that your online IP address is changed to a VPN IP address.

A provider doesn’t need to advertise its torrent-friendly servers, and if that is the case, you have to be sure that you are connected to a p2p-compatible server. You can also check your IP address online using any IP location website.

If your providers allow additional security features such as DNS leak protection, IPv6 leak protection, and Kill switch, then it would be wise to enable these options before you start torrenting.

After ensuring that you’re connected to a torrent-friendly server in VPN and your IP is changed online, you can now download the torrent from online and use it with the torrent client.

In case VPN gets disconnected, the Kill Switch should cut off your internet connection before your Internet Service Provider can see your online activity.

Why do You Need a VPN for Torrenting in Canada?

Artists of all kinds want to protect their intellectual property — not to mention their songs and other artistic creations. It is hard to blame them when they are losing sales, but many still want to download files for free. There is a debate to be had here, and it continues.

While torrenting itself is not illegal, downloading copyright material from the internet is undoubtedly unlawful. While we do not condone such activity, we understand that it is impossible to stop it in today’s internet age.

Many internet service providers block torrent websites to prevent copyright infringement and keep checking their users for such activity to take legal action against them.

To keep downloading your favorite material from all around the globe and not worry about anyone barging into your house and handing over legal notices, you will be required to mask your real IP and identity with a VPN.

After connecting yourself to a VPN server, your real IP is masked with a VPN IP address so that no one can recognize you on the internet. You will also be able to access blocked websites, which otherwise was impossible.

It is best to protect yourself by using a VPN for torrenting to protect you from even accidental violations of copyright laws.

How to Choose the Best VPN for Torrenting Canada?

Generally, people look for common VPN protocols such as high-end encryption and fast speed in a VPN when selecting torrents. But there are a few other things that you need to check to make better decisions.

1) Encryption Level

The backbone of a VPN provider. You’d want to select a provider with the strongest encryption or one having multiple encryption levels. As so much is on the line here, you can not compromise your identity’s security. All the providers in our list provide reliable encryption for your online privacy.

2) Speed

This is the second most crucial factor you need to consider. No one wants to wait for a game, movie, or series to be downloaded in a couple of days. We provided options that can easily support both requirements (speed and encryption).

3) P2P Support

Only encryption and speed are not enough. The provider should officially support torrenting on its network as well. At the same time, we kept this in our mind during our testing and added those providers with dedicated servers for torrenting only.

4) Headquarters

The headquarters ’ location will also give you a quick understanding of customer privacy’s worth in their eyes. It is always a bonus point if the headquarter is located in a country with no data retention laws. Having a zero-log policy is also necessary to earn a user’s trust.

What is Torrenting/File Sharing/P2P?

Torrenting is the distribution and sharing of digital media over the internet among multiple users called peers. This digital media includes books, videos, games, movies, and software. The torrent client searches for other peers on the network and starts sharing among users looking for the same media.

Is Torrenting in Canada Advisable?

Torrenting itself is not illegal in Canada, but torrenting digital media marked as copyrighted material can be a problem. If you have ever downloaded a torrent file from ThePirateBay, uTorrent, Putlocker, or RARBG, you may have downloaded a copyrighted file.

Consequences of piracy (downloading copyrighted material via torrents) range from warning letters and throttling (slowing down) of internet connections to legal action, although the latter.

Under Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act, copyright violators can be fined approximately US$5,000 for damages. By law, her Canadian ISP must report copyright infringers and retain personal information for up to six months. There are not many reported cases of fines, but there is always the chance of getting caught.

Best VPN for Torrenting According to Reddit

If you explore Reddit for the best VPN for P2P, you will see over 100 different VPN providers suggested, but only a few of them are mentioned repeatedly, which gives us a clue that they are the better option. The most talked-about VPN provider we could find was NordVPN. It was surprising as we were hoping for ExpressVPN, but we saw multiple users sharing their reviews about NordVPN, like the one below.

On the second and third spots, our team found Private Internet Access and Mullvad, respectively. While we didn’t investigate Mullvad for this blog, we are confident that it could be an excellent addition to your favorite provider for your best VPN for torrenting Canada list.

What are the Dangers of Using a Free VPN for Torrenting in Canada?

Some people can use a free VPN for torrenting for months without problems. These lucky people “fly under the radar” and avoid the consequences. Keep in mind, however. It’s a risky business.

With the recent piracy trend, torrenting with a free VPN is no longer worth the risk. After all, the consequences of piracy can be severe. Many countries are stepping up and enforcing piracy laws, especially in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

There are many dangers of using free VPNs for torrenting, especially if you live in Canada, which we will discuss below.

• Speed – Free VPNs, as you already know, do not offer a good number of servers/locations, making them prone to slow speed. The servers’ quality is nowhere near a paid provider server. Therefore, you will experience severe lag/delay when streaming or torrenting.
• Bandwidth – Free VPN providers usually have a limit set on the bandwidth a user can utilize. Hence you would not want that to be the case when downloading large-sized files from the internet.
• Encryption – There is no encryption level in the network used by the free VPNs. Even if the user is unaware of it, no information about encryption can be found anywhere with these VPNs. While downloading something from the internet, the last thing you want is to be wholly unsecured and unencrypted.
• Data Leaks – In a recent study, over 80 percent of free VPNs were leaking users’ real IP addresses, and in terms of torrenting, that is the last thing you would ever want. The IP address of a user is like a home address, and it can significantly help local law enforcement track you down.
• Tracking & Malware – According to a study, over 40 percent of free VPNs included trackers and malware in their software, only to keep track of your online activities and spread malware in your operating system.

We understand that not everyone can purchase an expensive or, you can say best VPN for torrenting in Canada. Still, at the same time, many other affordable VPNs out there provide you the same security and anonymity while also not breaking your bank account.

Best VPN for Torrenting in Canada – FAQs

Now let’s check out some of the frequently asked questions regarding torrenting in Canada.

Final Verdict

The restrictions and policies against copyright infringement are getting stricter daily, and they will not ease up anytime soon.  If you wish to continue using torrents and protect yourself from any legal action against you, you need the best VPN for Torrenting in Canada.

In our thorough search for this VPN, only ExpressVPN could tick all the boxes. That’s why it is our #1 recommendation for your torrenting needs.