Faced with the increased cost of acquiring original programming and streaming rights for TV shows, Netflix has raised the monthly price for its Canadian video streaming service by $1 to $8.99 per for new members.

To ease any threat of a consumer backlash, Netflix in an email to subscribers said it will allow existing Canadian members to keep their current price of $7.99 per month for two years.

For that price, existing subscribers can continue to stream movies and TV shows on any two screens at the same time. New subscribers at the same time can opt for a new $7.99 plan for streaming on only one screen at a time per-household.

Netflix executives last months telegraphed a possible price hike to deal with escalating programming costs for the U.S.-based video streaming giant as it continues to build out its network internationally.

The Netflix Canada price hike could impact the take-up of Rogers Communications’ possible over-the-top digital service, dubbed ShowMi in press reports.

ShowMi is not expected to be ad-free, however, but instead resemble Hulu Plus.