YouTube Premium Lite Adds Background Play and Downloads in Canada

YouTube is giving its budget-friendly subscription a major boost. The company announced today that background play and offline downloads are finally coming to YouTube Premium Lite.

The update follows a year of expansion for the Lite tier. Initially launched as a pilot in Europe in 2021 before being discontinued and then revived, the current version of Premium Lite officially arrived in Canada in May 2025. Since then, Canadian users have been able to access the service for $7.99 per month, which is about half the price of the standard $13.99 Premium plan.

Until now, the Lite version was strictly for removing ads on most videos. Subscribers who wanted to listen to videos while using other apps or save content for travel had to pay for the full-priced plan. YouTube says it made the change after hearing consistent feedback from users who wanted those specific perks without the higher cost.

“Starting today, and in the coming weeks rolling out everywhere Premium Lite is available, subscribers will be able to watch most videos ad-free, offline, and in the background,” the company stated on Tuesday.

While this narrows the gap between the two tiers, there are still reasons to choose the standard plan. The Lite version does not include ad-free music or a subscription to YouTube Music Premium. You may also still see ads on YouTube Shorts and during searches.

The new features are rolling out in stages, so Canadian subscribers should see the download and background play options appearing in their apps over the next few weeks.

There are ways to get around ads on YouTube, whether it’s using an alternative browser or some sort of ad blocking plugins, but they don’t always work. If you’re watching YouTube on your TV, paying for Lite or Premium looks to be the ways to get rid of most ads.