Background (1988–2015) At the time of its launch in 1988,
Family Channel, owned by DHX Media, held Canadian rights to
Disney Channel's programming library. As such, it operated licensed Canadian versions of Disney Channel's spinoff brands,
Disney XD and
Disney Junior, as sister networks.
Launch and development (2015–2017) On April 16, 2015,
Corus Entertainment announced that it had reached a "landmark" agreement with the
Disney–ABC Television Group to acquire long-term, Canadian multi-platform rights to Disney Channel's programming library; the cost and duration of the licensing deal were not disclosed. Corus also announced that it would launch a Canadian version of Disney Channel on September 1, 2015; the service consists of a linear television channel, along with
TV Everywhere apps (Watch Disney Channel Canada), and
video-on-demand services for television platforms. This marks Corus' second Disney/ABC-licensed service behind
ABC Spark – a localized version of
ABC Family. and brand new Corus-operated
Disney Junior and
Disney XD services launched on December 1, 2015. In the meantime, Disney Channel aired blocks featuring selected Disney Junior and XD programs. Until the Disney XD and Junior blocks were finished on this channel, and for the 2015–16 television season, DHX consequently re-branded its Disney XD and Junior networks as Family CHRGD (later
WildBrainTV) and
Family Jr. respectively, and began phasing out Disney programming from the two channels and Family; DHX Media's licensing agreement with Disney formally ended at the beginning of January 2016.
Present day Disney Channel originally operated as an "exempted"
Category B service: under new policies implemented in 2012, channels that would otherwise meet the definition of a Category B service are exempted from licensing by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), provided that they submit a formal application for licensing after they reach 200,000 subscribers. On September 1, 2017, the channel became a regularly licensed
discretionary service. In December 2022, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD were added to the streaming bundle
StackTV, to accompany Teletoon (now
Cartoon Network),
Treehouse, and
YTV. On July 10, 2025, Corus Entertainment announced that due to existing financial pressure occurring at the company, they would close down Disney Channel's sister networks, as well as
ABC Spark and the unrelated
Nickelodeon at midnight on September 1, 2025, leaving Disney Channel to be the only remaining Disney-branded networks, alongside
Rogers-owned
FX and
FXX, to continue operating in Canada. ==Programming==