Big Brother Canada (season 8)
Big Brother Canada 8 is the eighth season of the Canadian reality television series Big Brother Canada. It is based on the Dutch series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. Arisa Cox returned as the host for the series. The season premiered with a two-night premiere on March 4–5, 2020, on Global and was expected to end on May 21 with the live finale. Preceding the two-night premiere, on March 1, there was a one hour long event, titled Big Brother Canadas Supersized Season 8 Preview with ET Canada, which featured interviews with the entire cast, an exclusive tour of the house with Arisa Cox, a retrospective on the past seven seasons, and the official reveal of the season's supersized theme.
On March 24, 2020, Big Brother Canada announced an early end to production on the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, with the season finale airing on April 1, 2020. All filming ceased on March 24. The prize that would have gone to the winner went to a COVID-19 relief charity.
HouseGuests
The HouseGuests' images and profiles were released on Wednesday, February 26, 2020.| Name | Age on entry | Occupation | Residence | Day entered | Day exited | Result |
| Angela “Angie” Tackie | 33 | Communications officer | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 1 | 25 | rowspan="12" |
| Brooke Warnock | 26 | Social support worker | Calgary, Alberta | 1 | 25 | - |
| Carol Rosher | 44 | Disability caregiver | Nanaimo, British Columbia | 1 | 25 | - |
| 28 | Brain transformation specialist | Markham, Ontario | 1 | 25 | - | |
| Hira Deol | 30 | Accountant | Brampton, Ontario | 1 | 25 | - |
| John Luke Kieper | 22 | Journalist | Kamloops, British Columbia | 1 | 25 | - |
| Madeline Di Nunzio | 30 | Substitute teacher | Toronto, Ontario | 1 | 25 | - |
| Minh-Ly Nguyen-Cao | 28 | Flight attendant | Montreal, Quebec | 1 | 25 | - |
| Rianne Swanson | 29 | Operating room nurse | Chetwynd, British Columbia | 1 | 25 | - |
| Sheldon Jean | 24 | Professional wrestler | Ottawa, Ontario | 1 | 25 | - |
| Susanne Fuda | 24 | Corporate recruiter | Vaughan, Ontario | 1 | 25 | - |
| Vanessa Clements | 26 | Lobster fisherman | Mill River, Prince Edward Island | 1 | 25 | - |
| Kyle Rozendal | 31 | Electrician | Okotoks, Alberta | 1 | 19 | rowspan="2" |
| Jamar Lee | 23 | Warehouse worker | Ajax, Ontario | 1 | 17 | - |
| Micheal Stubley | 25 | Military infantryman | Prince George, British Columbia | 1 | 13 | |
| Nico Vera | 31 | Sales manager | Toronto, Ontario | 1 | 5 |
Production
Development
On May 30, 2019, Big Brother Canada was renewed for an eighth season. Nine months later, on January 20, 2020, Global announced that the season will be start airing with a two-night premiere on March 4–5, 2020. With the premiere date, they announced the "supersized" theme, but nothing about what that entails. Arisa Cox returned as the season's host.On March 4, or Day 5 inside the house, Nico Vera decided to leave the game. This was the second time HouseGuest quit Big Brother Canada and the first time for non-personal reasons, after Ramsey Aburaneh left on season 4 due to a family emergency.
Then, on March 16, or Day 17 in the house, Jamar Lee was expelled from the house after he broke a house rule by threatening fellow HouseGuest Kyle Rozendal. On March 18, or Day 19, Rozendal was also expelled from the house. These instances were the first and second expulsions in Big Brother Canada history.
Impact of the coronavirus pandemic
On March 12, 2020, or Day 13 in the house, Big Brother Canada suspended all live audiences for their shows due to the coronavirus pandemic. On March 17, or Day 16 inside the house, all of the current HouseGuests were notified of the current events outside of the house, including the pandemic. They were informed that all of their families were healthy. Also that day, production suspended the Have-Not cycle for the week to relieve stress, particularly for the Have-Nots. The HouseGuests were all assessed by a doctor to see if any of them showed signs of the virus; none of them had any symptoms related to the virus. That same day, Global and Insight Productions stated that they plan to continue with the production of the eighth season. On March 22, some of the sixty Big Brother Canada crew members resigned due to concerns about working during the pandemic.On March 23, 2020 at 4:47 p.m. EDT, in Ontario where the show is filmed, the provincial government ordered the mandatory 14-day closure of all non-essential workplaces by March 24 at 11:59 p.m. As a result, Global and Insight Productions announced that production for the season had ended on March 24, moving the finale up from May 21 and having it air on April 1, 2020; they had no plans to resume production at a later time. The prize that would have gone to the winner went to a COVID-19 relief charity.
It became the third season of Big Brother worldwide to ever be discontinued, the other two being the Arab world's , after the show caused controversy regarding religious issues, and Serbia's second season of Veliki Brat, after three HouseGuests evicted earlier in the season were killed in a car accident. The fourth season of Big Brother to be discontinued was the second season of the Malayalam version of Bigg Boss in India, which was discontinued for the same reason.
Casting
Kasting Inc. returned to cast the eighth season. On August 15, 2019, casting opened online, with open casting calls beginning on October 12, 2019. Open casting calls were held in Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Winnipeg, Moncton, Saskatoon, Victoria, Edmonton, Montreal, St. John's, Kelowna, and Toronto. The ability to apply online closed on November 15, 2019. The HouseGuests were announced on February 26, 2020.Filming
Filming started on February 29, 2020, with a live audience for the premiere episode. A live audience was featured during the two-night premiere. However, on March 12 during the [|fifth episode], Arisa Cox announced that there will no longer be a live audience over concerns of having large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. Filming took place at Studio 550 in Toronto, Ontario.Filming came to a halt on March 24 after production ended the season due to the pandemic. The finale was scheduled for May 21. Instead, a special farewell special aired on April 1.