In April 2010, Canwest (the majority owner and operator of the Canadian version of National Geographic Channel) had requested the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to add the U.S. cable network of the same name to the list of available foreign channels permitted to broadcast in Canada.

[1] Both High Fidelity HDTV (the owner of Oasis HD) and CTV Speciality Television Inc. (the major owner of the Canadian version of Animal Planet) sent letters to CRTC to oppose the request because they considered Nat Geo Wild to be competitive with Oasis HD and Animal Planet.

[2] In October 2011, NGC Channel Inc. (a company owned by Shaw and National Geographic Channel in the U.S.) put forth its own application to the CRTC in order to launch a Canadian version of Nat Geo Wild.

[4] Neither High Fidelity HDTV nor Bell Media voiced a concern about Nat Geo Wild competing with their services.

On April 30, 2012, Shaw released a statement that the Canadian version of Nat Geo Wild was scheduled to be launched on May 7, 2012.