In the season debut, the 16 Canadian chefs fighting to become Canada's next Top Chef arrive for the competition and are thrown into battle in a dramatic Quickfire Challenge at Chef Mark McEwan's stunning Toronto restaurant, Bymark. Later, in the Elimination Challenge, the chefs must use their hometown as inspiration to create a memorable dish and Chef Michael Smith acts as guest judge. 

The Quickfire Challenge requires the chefs to create a dish that fuses two radically different ingredients to create one amazing dish. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are divided into pairs to create food for a baby shower in honour of Top Chef Canada season one host Thea Andrews and resident judge Shereen Arazm, both of whom are expecting their second children.