In the series debut, viewers meet the 16 chefs who will compete for the title of Canada’s Top Chef.

In the high stakes Quickfire Challenge, the chefs must create an inspired breakfast dish using 100% cow’s milk cheese from the Dairy Farmers of Canada. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs host an art gallery cocktail party where they serve hors d’oeuvres that use cheese to paint a picture of their teammate.

The remaining chefs compete in the classic Top Chef Blindfold Taste Test for the Quickfire Challenge. Later, the chefs divide into teams to create a traditional Russian Zakusky – tapas style meal – using pure filtered vodka.

With a focus on food from around the world, the chefs must create their own unique salad for the Quickfire Challenge this week. For their Elimination Challenge, the chefs are dispatched to different ethnic neighbourhoods to purchase their ingredients. Using those ingredients, they must create a hot and a cold dish that is inspired by different world cuisines.

For the Quickfire Challenge, the chefs must properly butcher a whole pig. In the Elimination Challenge, the chefs use the same pork they butchered to create dishes at George Brown Chef’s School for a cocktail party in support of Food Banks of Canada. Senior students from the Chef’s School at George Brown lend a helping hand.

The contestants put their own spin on poutine. Later, they take on classic French cuisine.

The chefs must use All-Bran cereal in dishes for the Quickfire Challenge. Then they prepare a romantic meal for couples celebrating a special anniversary.

In this episode, the competitors compete in the signature Top Chef challenge, Restaurant Wars. Special guest, David Adjey, sits at the judges' table.

The chefs must create an amazing dish using a specific number of President's Choice™ signature products.

The chefs must choose a distinct region of Canada and create a day's worth of meals from their chosen region.

In this episode, the chefs are challenged to take haute cuisine to the street. For the Quickfire Challenge, they create two distinctive dishes with international flair that can be served from a street cart in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square. In their Elimination Challenge, they choose from a selection of seafood to create three distinct dishes in a very short period of time.

The chefs must create a special family style meal for Mark and some very close friends.

The chefs are first challenged to create a BBQ-themed meal, followed by a 3-course menu of their own design.