This is a list of episodes for the first season of the Canadian television series Canada's Worst Handyman, where the worst contestant, as determined by 25 challenges over 12 days, is given the dubious title.

Contestant Nominator 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barry Scot WORST IN IN IN IN IN Darryl Sara IMP IN IN IN IN IN Jeannie Laurence IN IN WORST IN IN IN Keith David IN WORST IMP WORST IN CWH Merle Shelly IN IMP IN IN WORST IN

CWH – The contestant is Canada's Worst Handyman. WORST – The contestant is the worst of the episode. NOM – The nominator of the contestant is the worst of the episode. IN – The contestant was considered for the worst for this episode. WORST - The contestant was the worst while their nominator was the most improved. M/W – The contestant was named both the most improved and the worst for this episode. IMP – The contestant is the most improved of the episode. NOM – The nominator of the contestant is the most improved of the episode. OUT – The contestant and their nominator left the show.

Format Each of the first five episodes contains four or five individual challenges taken from two days of shooting, where a contestant and their nominator work together to complete a task in a given amount of time. There is also a yardwork challenge in each episode, where the contestants have to work together (but without their nominators) to decorate a shed at the front of the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre. At the end of each episode, one contestant is named the most improved (represented by a toolbelt), which allows them to be in charge of the next yardwork challenge and another is named the worst. For the contestant named the worst, the contestant must hang their head in shame and nail their portrait to the side of the shed. They are then given a private lesson by Andrew relating to the reason why they were named the worst.

Episode 1: Demolition Day The first episode introduces the contestants as they first enter the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre. After the contestants are greeted by show host Andrew Younghusband, each contestant is given a dilapidated one-bedroom apartment at the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, where their individual challenges will take place. The rooms are color-coded: Darryl in the purple apartment, Merle in the green apartment, Keith in the blue apartment, Jeannie in the yellow apartment and Barry in the red apartment. Before entering their apartments, the contestants must break down a wall blocking the entrance as symbolism for the beginning of the rehabilitation process. Keith was picked to do the honours due to his lack of experience, but it was ultimately an impatient Merle who knocks this wall down. At the start of the first day, they are introduced to general contractor Greg House and interior designer Robin Lockhart, who will teach the contestants the skills needed to tackle the 25 challenges. Darryl was named the episode's most improved handyman due to his overall attitude and first impressions, while Barry was named the worst because he did not listen to the instructions given by the experts—a fact that Barry in fact admitted to and, in retrospect, was deserving of. His extra lesson: a lesson in listening skills, where Andrew asked Barry to do one instruction until he got it right—cutting a board 21 and 7/8" long.

Drywall Patching The contestants must patch a hole in their ceiling. Darryl – Darryl is slow to begin (due partially to being late and partially due to his complaints about Jeannie asking too many questions). After making his shim, he tries to hammer in his screws, but is eventually convinced by nominator Sara to use the power drill, only to operate said drill in reverse. He never managed to drill and secure the shim and his attempt to cover the hole with the piece of drywall left his piece far into the hole. His work in taping and plastering was not shown. Merle – Merle begins by measuring the hole with his hands, due to an aversion to measuring tape and also decides not to install a shim in his hole, instead choosing to jam his piece into place. He then secures his friction-fit piece with drywall tape, effectively using the mesh tape as a "safety net" of sorts. This "net" promptly falls when plaster (which was mixed too thin) is applied. Eyeing a few stray pieces of duct tape (his favorite tool of sorts), he promptly patches the hole with duct tape and plasters over it, much to the ridicule of Andrew. Keith – Keith, determined to do the first task correctly, begins by using the radiator in his room as a sawhorse to cut the wooden shim. However, to make his cut drywall piece fit the hole in the ceiling, he chooses to enlarge the hole instead of cutting his piece further down. He eventually abandons the shims and forces his drywall piece into place, and applies plaster liberally. Barry – Barry did not recall the instructions provided by Greg, as, ironically enough for a substitute teacher, he was not listening. He first begins cutting the drywall, which he does by using a connected propane stove as a sawhorse. Then he decides not to install a shim in his hole. To hold up his piece of drywall, Barry decides to use his nominator Scot to prop up his piece while tape and plaster were being administered and, when Greg comes in to check on him, he decides to use the shim to hold his piece up from below. Jeannie – Jeannie begins by cutting two shims for extra support, but decides to hammer in her screws. Being unable to secure them, she decides to remove them. She declares herself done after wedging her piece in and applying plaster liberally.

Yardwork Challenge: Shingling The contestants must work together to shingle the roof of the shed right outside the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre in 90 minutes. Shingles and roofing nails are provided, and instructions are provided on the shingle packages themselves. For safety reasons, the crew insists that only two persons were to be on the roof at any given time. The roof has already been tar-papered prior to the challenge. The team begins by not nominating someone to be in charge. Merle begins right away on the roof with the nails while Darryl and Barry deliver the shingles to the roof. While Merle and Barry argue on which way the shingles should be facing, Jeannie offers to read the instructions aloud to the rest, but the instructions she reads are for a flat roof and the shed is a peaked roof and the others ignore her. Merle convinces Barry that his way of aligning and nailing the shingles (in blocks rather than in rows) is correct (which it is not), but Barry continues to attach the shingles upside-down. Eventually the upside-down shingles were removed and replaced. Soon, work begins on both sides of the roof—Merle and Jeannie together on one side (with Darryl on the roof), while Barry, Keith and Merle work on the other (with Merle on the roof). On Jeannie's end, the shingles are laid out in courses, but the shingles themselves do not overlap, prompting Merle to make a quick patchwork fix. The effect of the block-by-block shingling on the other side leads to a very bumpy roof, which, as Greg notices, would easily fall apart if a strong enough gust of wind hit the roof. The rule that two people were to be on the roof at any time was quickly broken when Barry decides to go on the roof himself ("we didn't build it so it's gotta be safe" is his rationale), leading to Keith also joining Darryl and Merle on the roof. Keith mainly went up to the roof to tell the others how to shingle a roof with a valley, which the roof of the shed has none, but which Keith insists that it had in its peak. In the end, though, the contestants together manage to completely shingle the roof, albeit poorly with low quality.

Toolbox Building Prior to entering the Handyman Rehabilitation Centre, each contestant was asked to build a toolbox based on a very simple diagram, to replace their existing tool storage. Jeannie had used plastic filing cabinets, Merle a cardboard box and Keith a suitcase from an old Fisher-Price record player. Darryl – Darryl makes meticulous measurements, but uses hammers to drive in his screws. No other details of construction was given, but his toolbox handle was oriented in a different direction compared to the diagram. Merle – Merle begins by cutting ad-hoc without first measuring and uses a circular saw and a chisel to cut the hole for the toolbox handle. He quickly nails the box together and declares himself finished, but the box falls apart when tools were loaded in. His quick fix was to secure the box with more duct tape. Keith – Keith was given a jigsaw to cut his wood, having no power tools of his own. He finishes his box without a hole for a handle, but includes a strap for carrying over a shoulder. Barry – Barry begins cutting his wood by using his circular saw with its blade having fully rusted over. To cut the hole for the toolbox, though, Barry first drills a small hole but discovers that the jigsaw blade doesn't fit through it. His resulting box is similar to that of the diagram, but is not square in any way. Jeannie – Jeannie's box assembly was not shown, but in trying to make a hole for the handle with a jigsaw she does not make a hole, hoping that the jigsaw blade's back-and-forth motion would simply punch a hole through the wood. She manages to finish a box with a hinged opening.

Painting The contestants must paint a mural on the living room wall. The contestants may choose seven items of their choosing, but must commit to their choices before his challenge begins. After the painting, their challenges are inspected by Greg and Robin, as well as (for this episode only) psychologist Dr. Julie V. Hill. Darryl – Darryl had chosen three colors which Sara disliked, although they spend some time planning on what they would do (in lieu of planning ahead). They eventually settle on four square blocks. Once the paint cans are opened, Sara begins painting. Sara is forced to let Darryl paint the mural alone when Andrew enters to complain. Merle – Merle packs supplies, including multiple paintbrushes, but nearly forgets to choose some paint. He did eventually manage to get one can of blue paint and created a mural with a picture of what Sara referred to as a Playboy bunny freehand with a paint roller and using drywall tape in lieu of a sponge for a paint effect. He is finished in less than 15 minutes to mild acclaim. Keith – Keith's centerpiece was an "emotion wheel," which Robin greatly disliked. In her words, she would "curl up in the fetal position and give herself a cry" if she saw it in a living room. Barry – Barry had chosen a lot of paint (as well as a bottle of wood glue for no apparent reason), but did not choose a paintbrush, thus resorting to finger painting to complete a mural. In an attempt to help Barry, his nominator, Scot, tries to steal a paintbrush from the supply closet, but is caught red-handed. Scot begs to Andrew to allow him to bring back one paintbrush, which falls on deaf ears. Julie believes that Barry is intentionally doing a substandard mural in order to be lazy, raising Robin's concerns, as she believes that he is simply careless. Jeannie – Jeannie had the foresight to plan ahead with a nature scene design and thus had the right tools. The colors she chose complimented the yellow base color of her apartment, creating a stunning result.

Episode 2: Toilet Training This episode focuses on various bathroom-related renovations. Merle was named the most improved handyman of the episode, largely as he was one of the two contestants to have a working toilet, while Keith was named the worst because of his hostile attitude towards the experts, particularly Robin. His extra lesson was one where Andrew convinces him to stop making fun of the experts—Robin in particular, who he called a witch—and voice his concerns with them personally. In the end, Keith decides to apologize.

Replacing a Toilet