Dragons' Den Canada runs on seasonal auditions through CBC. How the online application works, what the audition is really like, and how to be ready before a window opens.
Applies in: across Canada
Dragons' Den Canada takes pitchers through seasonal auditions run by CBC, and the whole route starts with an online application. You apply through the CBC Dragons' Den auditions page, then you pitch producers — not the Dragons — at an in-person audition in a tour city or over video. If producers want you, they invite you to Toronto to film a pitch in front of the Dragons. Auditions do not run all year. Season 22 (2027) applications are open as checked on November 12, 2026 — see the Season 22 section below, and the CBC auditions page for the live window. The practical move is to get your application and your pitch ready now, then watch the CBC auditions page for the next window instead of waiting for the announcement to start preparing.
Dragons' Den is a CBC series where entrepreneurs pitch a panel of wealthy Canadian investors, the Dragons, for real investment from the Dragons' own pockets. It is a long-running CBC series, and the filmed pitch happens in Toronto, at the CBC Broadcasting Centre. A deal on the show is an investment offer, not a prize and not a grant, and the Dragons can say no. You are asking people to put their own money into your business, so they will ask about sales, costs, margins, and what the business is worth. A good story helps, but it does not replace numbers you can stand behind.
Auditions follow the show's season, not the calendar year. In recent seasons the pattern has been consistent: a cross-country tour stopping in major cities in late winter, and filming in Toronto in the spring. The 2026 tour, for example, ran from February 7 to March 28, 2026, through Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Yellowknife, London, and Vancouver, with most stops running 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. That is a past season, and it is useful only as a sense of timing. It does not tell you when the next window opens.
If a site, a social post, or a forum thread gives you a date for the next season, check it against the CBC auditions page before you act on it. Unofficial audition sites recycle old seasons, mix up years, and sometimes describe a past tour as if it were coming up. The CBC page is the only source that can confirm whether applications are open, which cities are on the tour, and when the deadline falls. If the page shows nothing for a new season, that means the window is not open yet, not that you missed it.
Every applicant applies through the online system, and that has held whether the audition itself is in person or virtual. In past seasons there was no separate pre-registration or appointment needed for an in-person audition, but the online application was still required, so do not treat showing up as a substitute for applying.
The current form asks for the basics first: your name, age, email, home address, whether you live within the Greater Toronto Area, phone number, and occupation. Then it asks about the business: company and product names, what category it falls in, a one-sentence description, what the business or product does, the year you started, and an image of the product where you have one. It asks for a short video pitch, 30 to 60 seconds, so producers get a sense of you and the business before they meet you. It also asks for the business's current status (idea, research and development, prototype or beta-testing, crowdfunding, or operational and shipping), whether you have a patent, what percentage of the business you own, how much money has been invested so far not counting sweat equity, and how much you would ask the Dragons for — an estimate, which the form says can change. The last questions cover any relationship you have with the producers, the Dragons, or anyone associated with the program, arts union or guild membership, and any outstanding warrants or other legal issues, followed by a voluntary self-identification survey and your signature on the consent and release. Answer in plain language and keep it specific. "A hot sauce company" tells producers nothing; "a hot sauce sold in 40 stores in Ontario, with $120,000 in sales last year" gives them something to work with. If you do not have sales yet, say so and say what you do have: a finished prototype, pre-orders, a waitlist, or a test run with real customers.
Fill the form in fully and check it before you submit. Producers read a large number of applications, and a half-finished form with no product details and no numbers is easy to pass over. If you are applying with a partner or co-founder, make sure the form reflects who will actually pitch.
Here is the part most first-timers get wrong: the Dragons are not at auditions. You pitch producers, in a room in a tour city or over a video call, and you do it the way you would pitch the Dragons, because producers are deciding whether you can carry a pitch on television. CBC's audition cheat sheet puts it plainly: the pitch is like an interview with the producers. There are no set appointments or other pre-registration for an in-person audition; on the day, you check in at the registration table to get your audition order number, which is separate from the application itself. Expect to wait — the cheat sheet says the wait in larger cities can run upwards of several hours, so bring snacks and something to do. Most tour stops have run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
You have only a few minutes to make an impression, so lead with your elevator pitch: what the business does, in about one minute. Then be ready for the producers' questions on the parts they and the Dragons both care about: what it costs to make, what it sells for, what you have sold so far, and what you are asking for and what share you would give up for it. Bring the product itself if it needs to be seen or tried to be understood — producers want to see it — and if yours is a service business, bring photos or show them on your laptop. Do not bring props, and skip gimmicks, jokes, and songs; the cheat sheet is explicit on that point. A pitch that is all background story with no business in it will stall. Producers look for the most passionate, energetic presenters, and they only get one shot at you, so treat the audition room as the real thing even though the Dragons are not in it. Apply online in advance and bring your paperwork with you on the day.
Producers contact the applicants they want to take further. If you are invited to film, expect to need one to two days in Toronto in the spring, and expect producers to help you plan the presentation you will give the Dragons. That help is about shaping a pitch that works on camera; it is not a promise of a deal.
If you do not hear back, that is the end of that season's run for you. There is no separate appeal, and reapplying in a later season with a stronger business is the realistic route back. Keep the materials you built, because a business that has grown since the last audition is a different application.
You do not need a finance degree, but you need answers that agree with each other. Write these down before you open the application:
If you cannot answer one of these, that is your preparation work, not a reason to guess on the form. A wrong number you have to walk back in the room is worse than a gap you can explain honestly. Know your ask before you pitch: walking into the Den unsure what you want is the fastest way to lose the room.
The common ones are avoidable. Applying late and rushing the form. Building the pitch around your life story instead of the business. Arriving without a clear ask and equity offer — the two numbers producers will ask for even though no valuation is required. Bringing no sample for a product that needs to be touched. Assuming the Dragons will be at the audition and saving your best material for them. And treating a television appearance as the goal, when the goal is investment on terms you can live with.
Virtual auditions run alongside the in-person tour, which is the route that matters if you live nowhere near a tour stop. The locations page tells applicants who do not live close to a stop to apply anyway, because CBC may be in touch to schedule a virtual audition over Zoom, and the application form itself asks for your audition preference: in-person or virtual. The online application is the same either way.
Checked November 12, 2026: the CBC auditions page is headed for Season 22 (2027) and states that applications are open, with select applicants to be contacted in early 2027 to schedule an audition. No deadline is stated on that page. The page says in-person auditions will be held across the country and links to its audition-locations page, but that page still lists the 2026 tour — Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Yellowknife, London, and Vancouver dates from February and March 2026, all now past — so no Season 22 tour cities or dates have been published yet. Treat any Season 22 tour list you see elsewhere as unverified until that page changes. The application is the same online form, and it asks for a 30- to 60-second elevator-pitch video and an audition preference: in-person or virtual. Eligibility on the page is unchanged from this guide: applicants must be based in Canada, and founders should be residents of Canada or currently residing in Canada. Questions about applying go to dragons@cbc.ca, the contact address CBC prints on the auditions page. If you are reading this after the Season 22 window, the same check applies: the CBC auditions page is the only source that can confirm whether applications are open, and a date from anywhere else needs checking against it before you act on it.
Right now, for Season 22 (2027). Applications were open when this page was checked on November 12, 2026. CBC says contacting starts in early 2027, when select applicants hear about scheduling an audition. No deadline is stated. Tours have tended to land in late winter — the 2026 one opened in Toronto on Saturday, February 7 and wrapped March 28 — but do not plan around that pattern. Plan around whatever the CBC page shows when you look.
Yes, always. All applicants must apply online, says CBC's locations page — the in-person day does not change that. Walking in unapplied gets you nowhere, because there is no appointment system or pre-registration waiting to catch you; the application is the entry ticket.
No, and that surprises a lot of first-timers. Auditions are with producers in a tour-city room or over video, and the Dragons first learn about you when you walk in to film. So the audition pitch has to stand on its own: a clear product, real numbers, and a direct ask.
Shorter than most people expect. CBC publishes no fixed length, but its cheat sheet warns that you get only a few minutes to make an impression. Inside that sits your elevator pitch, roughly one minute on what the business does, which CBC calls the most important thing to have ready. After that the producers drive it with questions. And bring the actual product if it needs handling. They want to see it, not a description of it.
You need to be based in Canada, and founders should be residents of Canada or presently living here. Size is not the filter: past seasons have taken people at the concept stage and established businesses alike. A finished prototype with no sales yet can be a real application; a vague idea with no product, no test customers, and no numbers is a much harder one.
No. Auditioning means you pitched producers. Filming is a separate invitation, and a filmed pitch still ends with the Dragons free to pass.
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