YMMV / MasterChef Canada

• Adorkable: Season 3 has Mary, with her huge green glasses, bright red lipstick and Squee upon meeting astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield.
• Elimination Houdini:
  • Thea in Season 4 was in almost every Pressure Test and landed in the bottom four times, more than any other contestant that season, often only getting by because someone else performed even worse. Despite this, she would make it all the way to the finale where she would lose to Trevor.
  • Andy in Season 7, despite being Season 5's runner-up, proved to be very inconsistent upon his return. He landed in the bottom four times, more than any other contestant that season, although a couple of strong performances toward the end proved to be enough to get him to the finale together with Thea and Christopher.
• Growing the Beard: Many consider the first season to be trying too hard to replicate the American version, with more dramatic contestants and the judges overall being meaner. From the second season onward, while there's still occasional drama, there's also a lot of focus on teamwork while the judges are much nicer, with even designated "Mean Judge" Alvin being more strict than mean.
• The Scrappy:
  • Season 1's Dale, who was extremely arrogant (especially after openly stating that the other cooks didn't intimidate him at all during his audition), showed to be narcissistic, and often had a bullying nature toward some of the other cooks. When he was selected to spare one person of note after failing a challenge, he went with himself and fellow contestant Danny, who was absent on the day of the challenge and didn't do any work. This action resulted in the ire of his teammates and criticism leveled against him until his elimination. He was also not a team player, as he treated his teammates horribly when it came to his first-team challenge as a captain, bickering with them in a childish manner for the smallest reasons, which he personally relished. His egotistical behavior was his ultimate downfall since he thought that he was the best and never owned up to his mistakes, even going as far as arguing with Chef Michael.
  • Season 3's Sean (not to be confused with Shawn), who cost his team victory in the very first team challenge by opening the smoker just to smell the ribs, despite multiple orders from his Team Captain Matthew not to touch the smoker. This led to their ribs not being as tender as the other team's, which cost them the challenge. Sean's blatant disobedience and his refusal to accept responsibility when called on it landed him here for many a viewer.
  • Season 4's Thea proved to be rather divisive thanks to a combination of being an Elimination Houdini who got into the finale over several stronger cooks and frequently crying when she found herself at the bottom, which some saw as emotionally manipulative. Her seemingly conspiring with Mai to vote out Christopher in a Season 7 challenge didn't gain her many fans, either. People were quick to point out that in the opening challenge of Season 7 (where everyone had to re-imagine the worst dish they cooked on their original run), Thea was the only one who saw her finale dish.
• Sequel Difficulty Spike: Season 7 is much more grueling than previous seasons, due to it being a Back to Win season where the competitors are not only former contestants but have all gone into the culinary industry, meaning they are no longer just home cooks. Every Mystery Box also doubles as an elimination, and the judging standards are much higher than before.
• Underdogs Never Lose:
  • During three-way Team Challenges, while the Red and Blue teams are usually filled with the strongest contestants, the Green team is usually made up of underdogs, weaker home cooks, or even just contestants who don't get along with each other. In all four of these challenges, the Green team has always won.
  • Tends to be subverted when it comes to the competition as a whole, as the winner of every season but the first has been someone who was widely seen as a front-runner, if not dominating the entire competition. Even the Season 1 winner, Eric, was seen as someone who had improved throughout his season and was the better cook compared to the runner-up.