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How many months of planning go into The Amazing Race Canada?

Mark Lysakowski: It’s a bit of an all-year adventure. I start thinking about where we’ll go while the show is still on in the summer. Then we have a discussion of what we’re going to do and I start working on plans in the fall. The actual prep, choosing the teams, starts in January. I’m the guy who will click through any link on Facebook that says, “10 places you need to see in Canada.” I’m all about clickbait. I’m always reading travel magazines and making mental notes of things I didn’t know existed. So I think about it all year long.

This season, the Race will stay entirely in Canada. Why did you choose to stick completely within our borders?

Lysakowski: It was one of those things where we’ve explored parts of the globe and helped tell Canadian stories in other parts of the world, but in Season 7 there’s nothing wrong with bringing the show back home and celebrating our home and native land.

Jon, how’s it been for you to see the show staying close to home this season?

Montgomery: I haven’t been anywhere that I hadn’t seen before. But every time you visit a part of Canada you’ve already been to before, it’s always a new experience. You get to meet new people and try new things and further immerse yourself in the culture and ways of the local community. That’s why we need to keep exploring our own backyard. Just because you’ve been there once doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same the second go-round.

So far three teams are gone, including Canada’s Choice, Jet and Dave. Have you been shocked by some of the early departures?

Montgomery: I’m never shocked by competition. It’s anybody’s game on game day. If an underdog wins, I’m usually cheering for underdogs. If people go out who you thought should have done better — kind of like my Toronto Maple Leafs — well, I’ve come to terms with that kind of disappointment. But on the show I don’t cheer for anybody and I have loose expectations because in competition, on game day, anything goes.