The first season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 9, 2003. Ryan Malcolm of Kingston, Ontario was the eventual winner.

The second season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's. The season provided an Idol first when the final six contestants played their own instruments during a group performance of the Gordon Lightfoot classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". This was the first time that contestants on any Idol series had performed with instruments; the effort is still widely regarded as one of the finest group numbers ever to appear on the show. Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta won the series, and Theresa Sokyrka of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was the runner-up. In November 2004, merely two months after the competition, Porter released his debut album entitled 219 Days – the number days spanning from his first audition to the release of his CD. Other Season Two finalists who released albums include Sokyrka, Jacob Hoggard, Jason Greeley, Shane Wiebe, and Joshua Seller.

Melissa O'Neil won the title of the first female Canadian Idol and the youngest Idol ever in North America in 2005, beating runner-up Rex Goudie.

The fourth season of Canadian Idol began in February 2006 ran until September 2006. Zack Werner, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, and Farley Flex returned to judge, and Ben Mulroney returned to host, with Elena Juatco as the new roving reporter. The season premiered on May 29, five days after the finale of American Idol Season 5. The Canadian Idol title was awarded to competitor Eva Avila on September 17, 2006. On Saturday, September 16, 2006, a day prior to the public announcement of the Idol results, Sony BMG Music Entertainment began offering Avila's version of the first single, Meant to Fly, for sale on the website. Although the page was subsequently blanked, the artwork for the single could be located within the image files of the webpage. This occurrence led to the creation of many rumours regarding the winner of the competition.

The fifth season of Canadian Idol is the fifth installation of the Idol series in Canada. It was again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returning as judges. The show premiered on June 5, 2007 with a 90-minute episode. Voting began during the fourth week. New events introduced that season included the Help Idols build a house and the Kraft Confidential with David Kerr. The elimination song for this year was Walk on Home by Kalan Porter. The final episode of the season was broadcast on September 11, 2007 when Brian Melo was crowned Canadian Idol.

The sixth and final season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants. Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returned as judges. This season saw a number of major and minor show format changes in an effort to keep the franchise fresh and innovative. The final episode of the season, in which the Canadian Idol was crowned, aired on September 10, 2008. The winner of the sixth season was Theo Tams. The sixth season became the final season of Canadian Idol following its cancellation in 2009.