Google Home is now available in Canada

Google Home is the first major virtual assistant-powered speaker to arrive in Canada, and it can be yours for $179 starting today.

See also:

Google Home review – the future of the home?

November 18, 2016

Moving to Canada has its perks: fake syrup is no longer the norm, and the chances are, you'll be able to find good poutine virtually anywhere to satiate your hunger after a night out. However, one thing that had me doubting my decision to move was what I call the US-Canada delay. It seems that at least for technology, companies seem to forget about Canada's existence despite its proximity to the US. It's only after months of waiting that Canadians get what their US neighbors have had for ages. And virtual assistant speakers are no exception.

I've done my share of cross-border shopping, and I know quite a few people who have imported smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home from the US to Canada, but of course, they're meant for the US market, meaning some features don't work quite as well in Canada. That's why I was so relieved when Google announced that its cylindrical assistant would be coming to Canada this summer – June 26 to be more specific.

Well, the day has come, and indeed, the Google Home is the first major smart speaker to be available in Canada. You can order it from Google directly or from other retailers like Best Buy, The Source, and Staples for $179 – which is basically a direction conversion of the official US price of $129. If you don't want to wait for it to be shipped, you can also go to any of the aforementioned retailers nearby although it looks like Staples has limited stock offline.

The only difference, apart from localized sources for news and such, is its ability to speak Canadian English and Canadian French.

I've pre-ordered mine, but I had the chance to play with one yesterday, and not surprisingly, it works exactly like the ones sold in the US. The only difference, apart from localized sources for news and such, is its ability to speak Canadian English and Canadian French.

For those of you in Canada, have you pre-ordered/bought Google's home assistant speaker? How's your experience been so far? Let us know in the comments below!

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